Passengers are still being extracted from the vessel.
February 5, 2020, 4:53 PM
2 min read
A plane skidded off the runway and crashed at Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen Airport as it attempted to land on Wednesday.
Firefighters, medics and police teams are at the scene and the nose of the plane appears to have separated from the rest of the aircraft, according to video from local television stations. Some parts of the plane appear to be on fire.
The passenger plane is a Pegasus Airlines flight that was entering Istanbul from Izmir, on Turkey’s west coast.
There were 177 passengers on board and eight crew members, and 33 ambulances have been dispatched to the scene, according to Turkey’s Transportation Minister, with no reported casualties so far.
At least 21 people have been injured and transferred to local hospitals, according to the governor of Istanbul. The evacuation process is still ongoing.
The exact cause of the crash is still unknown, although the plane was traveling at high speeds and had a rough attempted landing.
It is the second time in recent years that a Pegasus flight skidded off the runway in Turkey.
A commercial jet carrying 168 people overshot an icy airstrip at Ankara-Tabzon Airport in January 2018, although all 162 passengers and six crew were unharmed.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
