Plane carrying 177 crashes in Istanbul, breaks into pieces
A plane carrying 177 people, including six crew members, skidded off the runway as it tried to land in Istanbul. The devastating photos showed the aircraft crashing into a field and breaking into pieces. According to authorities, at least 52 people were injured.
In the videos immediately available after the crash, the plane can be seen seriously damaged with the fuselage appearing to be broken into three pieces at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen Airport. Passengers were seen evacuating through the cracks in the plane. Dozens of rescue crew members were working about the flood-lit fuselage, including around the cockpit, which had flipped over.
The plane, belonging to the low-cost airline Pegasus, arrived from the city of Izmir, NTV Television reported. NTV said it caught fire after skidding but said the blaze had been extinguished.
Following the incident, the airport was shut down and flights were diverted to Istanbul's main airport.
The Transportation Ministry said there were no deaths in the "rough landing."
“According to the information we have, there was a rough landing. The accident occurred after (the plane) could not decelerate and rammed into a field from the end of the runway,” state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Mehmet Cahit Turan as saying.
He added that authorities have had “no contact” yet with the pilots.
According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the plane is a Boeing 737.
