Another aircraft from Pegasus Airlines skidded off the runway at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport on Wednesday and broke into pieces.
The transportation minister, Mehmet Cahit Turhan, said the accident occurred at about 6:30 p.m. local time and was a result of “rough landing”. The Flight Safety Foundation also said a thunderstorm passing by the airport at the time brought gusty winds to the area.
The accident killed one person and injured 157. There were 177 people on board, including six crew members.
Based on the photos and videos of the accident, the plane broke into three pieces – the front portion of the plane, including the cockpit and several rows of seats; a second section near the tail have broken off as well.
Reports claimed that the plane caught fire after it skidded, but it was quickly extinguished.
The Sabiha Gokcen airport was shut down following the incident, with inbound flights diverting to Istanbul’s main airport instead. On January 7, a Pegasus aircraft skidded off a runway at the same airport. No one was injured in that incident.
In a statement, the airline confirmed that it was involved in the Wednesday incident:
“The Pegasus Airlines flight PC2193, on a TC-IZK registered aircraft, flying from Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport today (5 February 2020), experienced a runway excursion after landing at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport. There have been no fatalities, and our injured passengers have been taken to hospital.
“We will continue to provide further information with regards to the incident.”
Comments are closed.