Domestic passenger plane makes belly landing in Mandalay

TADA-U, May 12, 2019, Myanmar Times. A domestic passenger plane has made a belly landing after the nose wheel failed to extend this morning at Mandalay International Airport, according to an official from the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), reported the Myanmar Times.

The airplane Embraer ERJ-190LR, manufactured in Brazil, was from state-owned Myanmar National Airline and carrying 82 passengers and seven crew members. The plane was flying from Yangon to Mandalay on Sunday at 8:00am.

“The plane has landed in the middle of the runway Mandalay Airport. The runway is 14,000ft and the plane landed at 5000ft,” said U Ye Htut Aung, deputy director general of DCA.

This was due to mechanical error and there were no serious damages to the plane because the pilot was skilled. The passengers were also not injured, he added.

Investigation teams and officials from the related airline have been dispatched to the landing site to examine details, according to DCA.

A belly landing or gear-up landing occurs when an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended and uses its underside, or belly, as its primary landing device.

Last Wednesday evening, a Biman Bangladesh plan skid off the runway and crashed at Yangon International Airport with several passengers injured.