Turkish Airlines plane catches fire at Nepal airport, passengers safe

The flight, which took off from Istanbul, caught fire after there was a spark in the right landing gear, according to Gyanendra Bhul, a spokesman at Nepal's civil aviation authority.

"All aboard are safe, the rescue part is over. We are now investigating the accident," Bhul told AFP.

Bhul said the incident caused the closure of the airport's only runway for almost two hours in the morning but it has since been reopened.

The Himalayan nation is home to some of the world's most remote and tricky runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks and terrain that poses a challenge even for accomplished pilots.

A string of crashes as well as the European Union's decision to blacklist all Nepalese airlines prompted government officials last year to announce plans to install new radar and weather monitoring systems.

In 2015, a Turkish Airline aircraft with 224 passengers  skidded off the Kathmandu runway.

The passengers were unhurt but the accident led to a runway closure for four days and saw scores of international flights cancelled.