Latam aircraft forced to make emergency landing in Colombia: Landing gear caught fire on impact

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A Latam aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at José María Córdova Airport in Rionegro, near Medellín, just minutes after takeoff because a wheel on its front landing gear failed.

The Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that the Airbus A-320 with the registration CC-BAS was en route Medellín-Cartagena de Indias and had to return to José María Córdova after the crew “detected a defect in one of the nose landing gear wheels after takeoff.”

“Therefore, it decided to fly over the area of Rionegro Airport to consume some fuel and land safely. The landing was carried out in a controlled manner and in safe conditions for the occupants of the aircraft and the personnel on the ground,” the statement added.

Videos posted on social media show the plane landing after the emergency landing and the damaged wheel catching fire as it touches down on the runway.

Aerocivil did not specify how many people were on board, but videos taken by the passengers themselves show that the plane was virtually full.

The emergency was attended by the airport’s fire department, emergency services, and maintenance personnel, whose operations were suspended from 2.20 p.m.

By 11.10 p.m., 24 flights leaving the terminal had been canceled and 11 delayed, while five arriving flights were canceled and 60 delayed.

#InformaciónImportante | A las 15:12 de hoy martes 29 de marzo un avión A-320 de la empresa Latam con matrícula CC – BAS que cubría la ruta Medellín – Cartagena tuvo que regresar al aeropuerto @AeropuertoMDE y realizar un aterrizaje de emergencia. pic.twitter.com/oXte4HlVrg

— Aeronáutica Civil (@AerocivilCol) March 29, 2022

“Access to domestic lounges is not possible as their capacity is full due to the delay of flights caused by the emergency,” the airport said.

All the passengers were taken off the plane unharmed, but two of them had to be treated by the airport doctor due to the “emotional impact.”

Another video shows that passengers were very nervous during the emergency. Some of them were crying and even praying in view of the severity of the incident, while the flight attendants asked them to stay seated.

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