Plane Skids Off Runway at İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport, Claiming 3 Lives

* Photo: Serhat Çağdaş - İstanbul/AA

Click to read the article in Turkish

Arriving from Turkey's Aegean province of İzmir, the Pegasus Airlines plane with the flight number PC2193 skidded off the runway while landing at Sabiha Gökçen Airport in İstanbul yesterday (February 5).

Making a statement about the incident which caused the plane to break into three pieces, Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca has announced that three people have lost their lives and 179 people have been wounded.

With 177 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew members, the plane took off from İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport at 5.05 p.m. and it landed at Sabiha Gökçen Airport at 6.18 p.m.

Governor: It fell from 30-40 meters

Governor of İstanbul Ali Yerlikaya has also shared the following information about the plane that skidded off the runway:

"Unfortunately, the passenger plane could not hold on to the runway due to adverse weather conditions. After skidding off the runway, the plane drifted around 50 meters.

"Then, it fell from a height of around 30 meters here, where there is a connection road from the TEM highway to the E-5 highway."

Airport temporarily closed to air traffic

Sabiha Gökçen Airport was temporarily closed to air traffic following the incident. The planes scheduled to land in Sabiha Gökçen Airport were directed to the new İstanbul Airport.

The İstanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into the incident.

Plane has broken into three pieces

The first statement after the incident was made by Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Cahit Turhan:

"As far as we have been informed, the plane drifted into the field by skidding off the runway as a result of hard landing. Breakage has occurred on the plane. An important part of passengers left the plane by their own means. The ones still on board are being evacuated by our teams.

"Around 32 ambulances have been referred to the scene of incident. The passengers are referred to hospitals with these ambulances."

While the videos in news websites and social media have shown that the plane broke into three pieces after the incident, in a statement released by Pegasus shortly after the incident, it was indicated that no one lost their lives.

According to the latest statement made by Minister of Health Koca, three people have lost their lives and 179 others have been wounded.

(EKN/SD)