ISTANBUL / ISLAMABAD: A scheduled Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Islamabad was forced to make an emergency landing in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday after experiencing a severe technical glitch in Azerbaijani airspace.
According to reports made available to MM News from aviation sources, flight TK-710 was cruising en route to the Pakistani capital when it encountered a critical technical issue.
Data from the flight tracking portal FlightRadar24 revealed that the aircraft suffered a complete disruption in signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).
Faced with the loss of vital navigation data, the pilot of the Airbus A330 immediately declared an in-flight emergency.
Following the emergency declaration, the cockpit crew established contact with Baku Air Traffic Control (ATC). Under the close guidance of Baku ATC, the pilot executed a safe and controlled diversion, landing the aircraft smoothly at Baku Airport.
MM News has learnt that all passengers have been safely deboarded and transferred to the airport terminal. Meanwhile, ground engineering teams have commenced maintenance work on the Airbus A330 to troubleshoot and resolve the navigation system malfunction before the flight can resume its journey to Islamabad.
