Turkish cargo plane makes emergency landing in Istanbul

A Turkish Airlines (THY) cargo plane flying from Istanbul to Kazakhstan's Almaty city Sunday made an emergency landing in Istanbul as it encountered a flock of birds shortly after taking off from Ataturk Airport.

The plane took off from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport at 8:40 a.m. local time (0540GMT). While in the air, the B777-F cargo plane encountered a flock of birds, damaging the plane's airframe, the THY's press office said in a statement.

The plane landed at Ataturk Airport after discharging fuel for about half an hour on the Sea of Marmara to reach a certain weight for an emergency landing.