Transavia Boeing 737 Evacuated In Amsterdam After Gear Fire

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It was dramatic scenes on Runway 18R at Amsterdam Schiphol yesterday after the landing gear of a Transavia 737 caught fire. Passengers were ordered to immediately evacuate using the emergency slides and overwing exits over fears of a larger fire. All passengers and crew disembarked safely, and no injuries were reported.

Transavia Airlines Boeing 737
Transavia operates exclusively an all-Boeing fleet of 737-700s and -800s. Photo: Getty Images

Evacuate

According to De Telegraaf, a Transavia flight from Seville to Amsterdam was evacuated on the runway of Schiphol Airport on Thursday afternoon. Soon after flight HV6730 touched down on Runway 18R, the pilots were alerted to a fire while taxiing. The source of the fire was the main landing gear, while can be seen near the left side wheels according to images.

As a precaution, the pilots ordered that the aircraft be evacuated immediately to protect passengers from a larger fire, or worse. This led to 180 passengers and six crew exiting the aircraft by overwing doors and emergency slides on both sides of the plane. One passenger from the flight took the image below.

Meanwhile, emergency services swooped in to quickly douse the fire. It currently remains unclear what caused the fire and how it was initially discovered. These will likely be revealed in the coming weeks and months as investigators get to the bottom of the incident.

All 180 passengers and six crew members evacuated unscathed, and fire services quickly contained the fire.

Grounded

The aircraft involved in the incident is a Boeing 737-800 registered PH-HXG. The aircraft was delivered new in March 2017 but has spent a good time of its career outside the country. The plane was leased to Sun Country Airlines (2017-2018) in the US and GOL (2019-2020) in Brazil before returning to Transavia in April 2020.

The plane is only 4.6 years old, according to Planespotters.net. PH-HXG will now undergo thorough checks and repairs to bring it back to airworthy status. However, for now, it is grounded pending further investigation.

Transavia 737-800
PH-HXG is one of Transavia’s newest 737s and will likely serve for decades more before retirement. Photo: Dawlad Ast via Flickr

Preliminary explanations include issues with the brake disc, tire punction, and more. For now, the Dutch Safety Board is on the scene getting to the bottom.

Leisure-focus

Transavia is the Netherlands’ second-biggest airline and is wholly owned by flag carrier KLM. The low-cost carrier focuses on leisure routes in Europe and medium-haul destinations using its 737-only fleet of aircraft. The airline now flies to 90 destinations in 20 countries with a fleet of 39 aircraft.

After a tough summer, Transavia made a recovery in 2021, flying a packed summer schedule to meet pent-up demand. With cases in Europe still low, there is potential for some winter travel to the sun in the next few months. This will come as a gift to all airlines, which are looking to plug gaps in revenue and wean off government support quickly.

Transavia
Transavia also has a French subsidiary to serve more routes, in line with Air France-KLM’s joint venture agreement. Photo: Transavia

What do you think about Transavia? Have you ever flown with them? Let us know in the comments!



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