3 killed, 180 injured after plane skids off runway at Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen airport

Duvar English

A Pegasus Airlines plane flying into Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen airport from İzmir skidded off the runway and crashed on Feb. 5, killing three people and injuring 180 others, officials said.

Three passengers have lost their lives, while 174 others and six crew members were injured, officials said.

Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said earlier that the plane was carrying 177 passengers and six crew members from Turkey's western province of İzmir.

"The plane could not hold on the runway due to poor weather conditions and skidded for around 50-60 metres," Yerlikaya told reporters at the airport.

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.

Sabiha Gökçen Airport was reopened to flights at 4 a.m. Jan. 6.

Pegasus said in a statement that the plane had gone off the runway and that passengers were being evacuated. A spokeswoman for the company did not provide further details.

Television footage showed the 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-run Anadolu Agency media said was extinguished by firefighters at the scene.

Turkish Airlines said it had cancelled all its flight in and out of Sabiha Gökçen for the day.