Plane catches fire during landing in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, Oct 11 (Reuters) A plane carrying 156 passengers from Egypt to Poland caught fire during a emergency landing at Istanbul today but the blaze was doused and there were no casualties, Turkey's state-run Anatolian news agency said.

The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 belonging to Egypt's AMC Airlines, also had seven crew on board.

Istanbul Deputy Governor Mehmet Ali Ulutas told Anatolian the aircraft had made a request to land at Istanbul because of mechanical problems.

Ulutas said the plane's landing gear had developed a fault and caught fire as the aircraft it landed and it overshot the runway. The small blaze was quickly put out.

''It will be difficult to remove the plane from the runway.

The plane will probably have to be dismantled,'' he said.

Reuters DKS VP0212