Plane skids off runway in Istanbul, 3 killed, 179 injured

A Pegasus
Airlines plane flying into Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport skidded off the end
of the wet runway and broke into three pieces after landing on Wednesday,
killing three people and injuring 179 others, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca
said.

Speaking to reporters in the eastern province of Van, Koca said that three people had died in hospital after the accident, adding that 179 out of the 183 passengers and crew on the plane were wounded.

Istanbul
Governor Ali Yerlikaya said earlier that the plane was carrying 177 passengers
and six crew from the western province of Izmir. He said the wounded were being
treated at 18 hospitals in the area.

“The
plane could not hold on the runway due to poor weather conditions and skidded
for around 50-60 metres,” Yerlikaya told sources.

The plane, a
Boeing 737-86J, split into three pieces after what Yerlikaya said was a drop of
around 30 to 40 metres at the end of the wet runway. Footage showed the plane
landing and continuing at a high speed off the runway.

Transport
Minister Cahit Turhan said flights waiting to land in Sabiha Gokcen had been
diverted to Istanbul Airport.

Pegasus said
in a statement that the plane had gone off the runway and that passengers were
being evacuated.

Plane’s
fuselage, as well as a section of it near the tail, had broken off. Passengers
were being led out as the plane lay on a patch of grass next to the runway.
Dozens of emergency response personnel took passengers out of the plane and
carried them away on stretchers.

Earlier
footage showed part of the exterior of the plane had caught on fire, which
state media said was extinguished by firefighters.