Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-900,  performing flight from Istanbul  to Niamey , departed Istanbul’s runway 35R, the crew however received a tail strike indication, stopped the climb at 7000 feet, burned off fuel and returned to Istanbul for a safe landing on runway 35R about 2:40 hours after departure.

The aircraft is being examined, a replacement aircraft is estimated to depart for Niamey however, is still on the ground about 2 hours after this plane landed back.