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THIS is the moment a hero pilot safely landed a plane without front wheels, leaving all 89 people on board unscathed.

The Myanmar National Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Mandalay International Airport today, using only its rear wheels after the front landing gear failed to deploy.

 Firefighters work with hose on a plane of Myanmar National Airline (MNA) after an accident at Mandalay International airport today
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Firefighters work with hose on a plane of Myanmar National Airline (MNA) after an accident at Mandalay International airport todayCredit: AP:Associated Press
 Myanmar National Airlines flight UB103 landed without a front wheel at Mandalay International Airport in Tada-U
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Myanmar National Airlines flight UB103 landed without a front wheel at Mandalay International Airport in Tada-UCredit: Reuters

All 82 passengers and seven crew members aboard Flight UB103 from Yangon were declared safe after the Brazilian-made Embraer 190-LR touched down on its rear sets of wheels.

The plane's nose tilted down to scrape the runway, sending off a shower of sparks as it slowed to a stop.

Kyaw San, a spokesman for the airport, said the pilot informed the control tower before landing that he was unable to pull down the nose wheels.

A statement on the airline's Facebook page explained that the plane's EICAS Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System indicated a failure of the front landing gear to deploy.

HERO PILOT

The pilot tried a backup emergency procedure to pull down the wheels but that was unsuccessful.

The aircraft did two fly-bys past the tower for air controllers to check visually whether the wheels had deployed.

The captain followed emergency procedures to dump fuel to reduce the landing weight, and made a safe landing at 9:09 am, the statement said.

A video shot by one of the passengers and posted online showed an urgent but orderly evacuation of the passengers and crew.

Passengers were seen walking away from the plane across the airfield, several of them smiling.

Flight operations at the airport were temporarily suspended, and allowed to resume after about two hours for small aircraft.

The runways were expected to be reopened for use by larger Boeing and Airbus aircraft by late afternoon.

On Wednesday, a Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft skidded off the runway after landing in bad weather at Yangon's airport, injuring at least 15 passengers and crew but none critically.

The fuselage of the plane, a Bombardier Dash 8, was broken in at least two spots, along with the wings.

 All passengers and crew are reported safe and uninjured
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All passengers and crew are reported safe and uninjuredCredit: AP:Associated Press
 Passengers walk away from the plane after Myanmar National Airlines flight UB103 landed without a front wheel
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Passengers walk away from the plane after Myanmar National Airlines flight UB103 landed without a front wheelCredit: Reuters
 Smoke enters the cabin as passengers wait to evacuate after Myanmar National Airlines flight UB103 landed without a front wheel
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Smoke enters the cabin as passengers wait to evacuate after Myanmar National Airlines flight UB103 landed without a front wheelCredit: Reuters
 A Myanmar pilot saved the day after his aircraft's landing gear failed
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A Myanmar pilot saved the day after his aircraft's landing gear failedCredit: AFP or licensors


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