bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Three people have died and 179 were injured when a plane skidded off the runway at an Istanbul airport, caught fire and split into three after landing in rough weather.
Live images broadcast on Turkish television showed several people climbing through a large crack in the severed aircraft and escaping onto one of the wings at the rear.
The Boeing 737 operated by Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines had flown into Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport from the Aegean port city of Izmir on Wednesday, NTV television reported.
The plane was apparently buffeted by strong winds and heavy rain lashing Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city.
Three Turks were killed and 179 injured, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

The plane was carrying 177 passengers and six crew members, state news agency Anadolu said, revising the previous total given by Turkish authorities. Turkish media reports said there were 12 children on board.
Canada to give families of Iran plane tragedy victims US$19,000 each
Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya said the plane “slid some 60 metres (200 feet)” after skidding off the runway, and then “fell about 30-40 metres” down a bank.
The accident, which he attributed to bad weather, “could have had more serious consequences”, he said.

Transport Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan said the plane broke after a “strong landing” at Sabiha Gokcen, one of two main international airports in Istanbul.
The front of the plane including the cockpit was sliced off from the bulk of the fuselage, and another huge fissure separated the rear of the aircraft including the tail.
US confirms Afghanistan crash but denies plane was shot down by Taliban
Survivor Dogus Bilgic, 24, told Turkish television channel NTV that he fled the smashed plane by way of a gap near his seat and was one of the first passengers to get out.

“We travelled (on the runway) for some 20 or 30 seconds, then all of a sudden we flew off the runway,” he said while seated in a wheelchair because of a leg injury. “It happened in seconds.”
“I was seated in 25C. I believe the plane broke apart at row 26,” Bilgic recalled, adding that he threw himself out of the plane when he saw the opening.
“The front (of the plane) was in a terrible state. I saw, after I was on the ground, that it had completely broken apart,” he said.
Sabiha Gokcen, which lies on the Asian side of Turkey’s commercial hub, was closed and flights were being redirected to Istanbul’s main airport.
China-bound plane dumps fuel on schoolchildren before emergency landing in Los Angeles
There had been very strong winds and rain in the area before the incident and poor weather in Istanbul, particularly in winter, often lead to the cancellation of flights.
The Istanbul public prosecutor has launched an investigation into the incident.
The 737-800 model, which has a good safety record, predates the 737 MAX version that has been grounded worldwide since March after two fatal crashes.

One dead and at least 52 wounded people have been hospitalized, the two pilots are in critical condition after a Boeing 737 of #Pegasus Airlines gets off the runway at Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul, Turkey.

pic.twitter.com/tLzG6T4p4d
— air plus news (english) (@airplusnews_EN) February 5, 2020

In January 2018, a Pegasus Boeing 737-800 slid down an embankment at Trabzon airport on the Black Sea, and landed just metres from the water with its wheels stuck in thick mud.
After four days, the plane was eventually lifted back onto the runway with engineers using cranes. All 162 passengers and six crew were safely evacuated.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to make Istanbul the world’s top aviation hub and in 2018 opened a new mega-airport in the city of 15 million people.
Pegasus, which has been flying for 20 years, has a fleet of 83 aircraft, including 47 Boeings and 36 Airbus planes, according to its website.
Additional reporting by Associated Press and Bloomberg


For Gulf states, geography is both a generous and treacherous patron

Travellers recognise the strengths of Hong Kong International Airport

AirAsia X hikes ticket prices by 40%, cuts capacity by 10% as Iran war hits fuel costs

How 2 downed jets show a critical vulnerability for the US as Iran war rages on

Aviation

Three killed, 179 injured as plane splits open in rough landing at Istanbul airport

Emergency workers, assisted by an excavator, recovered one body from beneath the wreckage before the rescue mission ended. Photo: AFP

Turkish soldiers stand guard as rescuers work to extract passengers from the crash of a Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737 airplane, after it skidded off the runway upon landing at Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul on February 5, 2020. - The plane carrying 171 passengers from the Aegean port city of Izmir split into three after landing in rough weather. Officials said no-one had lost their lives in the accident, but dozens of people were injured. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)

Part of the broken fuselage of the Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737 airplane is seen after skidded off the runway upon landing at Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul on February 5, 2020. - The plane carrying 171 passengers from the Aegean port city of Izmir split into three after landing in rough weather. Officials said no-one had lost their lives in the accident, but dozens of people were injured. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)

First responders work at the Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-86J plane crash site, after it overran the runway during landing, at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport, Turkey February 5, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

At least 31 killed by avalanches in Turkey

Turkish soldiers and locals try to rescue people trapped under avalanche in Bahcesaray in Van province. Photo: Reuters

Eleven injured as storm causes plane to slide off runway in Myanmar

Emergency responders transport an injured passenger. Photo: AFP

News

World

Middle East


The rear of the jet caught fire, while the front detached and came to rest upside down
Survivor recounts fleeing the smashed plane by way of a gap near his seat



Turkish jetliner skidded off the runway at an Istanbul airport, caught fire and split into three.


Turkey

Plane crashes and aviation accidents

Three killed, 179 injured as plane splits open in rough landing at Istanbul airport

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} The rear of the jet caught fire, while the front detached and came to rest upside down Survivor recounts fleeing the smashed plane by way of a gap near his seat

The rear of the jet caught fire, while the front detached and came to rest upside down

Survivor recounts fleeing the smashed plane by way of a gap near his seat