RETIRED TURKISH AIRLINES A340 DESTROYED BY FIRE IN TURKEY
A retired Airbus A340 that spent more than two decades flying with Turkish Airlines has been destroyed by fire at an aviation and science center in Turkey.
The fire broke out on Saturday, September 5, at the UçakPark Aviation and Science Center in Çayırova, Kocaeli province, where the widebody had been preserved as an educational attraction.
Dramatic videos from the scene show flames engulfing the aircraft. As firefighters battled the blaze, the rear fuselage suffered a structural collapse, causing the tail section to fall onto firefighting vehicles positioned nearby.
Thankfully, authorities reported that no injuries occurred.
The aircraft had found a second life after leaving airline service, avoiding the scrapyard after being acquired by the Çayırova municipality. An earlier proposal to transform the A340 into a restaurant was eventually abandoned, and the aircraft was instead preserved at the aviation center.
The Airbus A340 holds a special place in aviation history. It was Airbus’ first four-engine widebody and entered airline service in 1993. Production ended in 2011, with 377 A340s built across the -200, -300, -500 and -600 variants.
Now, one of those historic aircraft has been lost.
The cause of the fire remains unknown and is under investigation.
