A Thai Airways flight bound for Bangkok was forced to turn back to Frankfurt on Friday after declaring an in-flight emergency over a landing gear fault, tracking data and aviation news outlets showed.

Flight TG921, a Boeing 777-300ER (registration HS-TKK), departed Frankfurt Airport at 2:45 pm local time from runway 18. Shortly after takeoff, the crew reported a hydraulic failure after the aircraft's left main landing gear failed to retract and levelled off at 13,000 feet before declaring an emergency to air traffic control.

Because the aircraft was fully fuelled for the long-haul route to Suvarnabhumi Airport, the crew held near Frankfurt for about 25 minutes to dump fuel and reduce the aircraft's weight to a safe landing limit, according to AIRLIVE and flight-tracking service Flightradar24.

The aircraft landed safely on runway 25C roughly 80 minutes after departure. Emergency crews were on standby as a precaution, but the jet touched down without further incident and taxied under its own power to a remote stand, where passengers disembarked safely.

No injuries were reported among passengers or crew. Thai Airways has not yet issued an official statement on the cause of the fault or on rebooking arrangements for affected passengers.

Sources: AIRLIVE, Flightradar24, Aviation Herald