One of leisure carrier SunExpress’s Boeing 737-800s has suffered a landing-gear collapse while taxiing at Antalya ahead of a service to Gaziantep.
The aircraft’s left-hand main gear failed as the aircraft was taxiing as flight XQ7646 on 13 February.
SunExpress states that the twinjet “experienced a technical issue involving the landing-gear strut”.
“Passengers were safely disembarked and the aircraft was taken out of operation for technical inspection,” the carrier adds.
“The safety of our passengers and crew members is always our top priority.”
SunExpress states that it recruited a different aircraft to carry out the Antalya-Gazientep flight.
The aircraft involved (TC-SOB) is around 10 years old, having been delivered to the carrier in 2016.
Antalya’s regional governorship says it was transporting 175 passengers and six crew at the time of the occurrence.
The cause of the collapse has yet to be determined. The jet had arrived at Antalya from Diyarbakir earlier in the day.
SunExpress is a joint-venture carrier between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa Group.
