Astana, Kazakhstan — A Swiss International Air Lines Boeing 777-300ER became stuck on soft ground at Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport in Astana after making an emergency landing on a flight from Tokyo to Zurich.
The aircraft, forced to divert due to a medical emergency onboard, successfully landed at 4:00 p.m. local time. However, during a turn on the taxiway, the plane veered off and became lodged on the grass, reportedly due to a crew error. An airport spokesperson confirmed that an alarm was triggered at 4:03 p.m. to initiate rescue operations.
As a result of the incident, Astana airport was closed to all flights for two hours while efforts were made to safely extricate the aircraft. Further investigations are ongoing.