A Turkish airplane, flown by Pegasus Airline and conveying 171 passengers and 6 crew members, has skidded off the runway at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen’s airport.
The incident which left about 120 people hospitalized on Thursday 6th February, 2020, was attributed to rough landing.
Transport Minister, Mehmet Cahit Turhan said, “The accident occurred after the plane could not decelerate and rammed into a field from the end of the runway.”
Turkish media reports stated that, “The plane was landing in heavy rain and strong tailwinds.”
The reports added that most of the people on board were Turkish while there were about 20 foreign nationals among the passengers.
Video Footage immediately after the crash showed passengers leaving the Boeing 737 aircraft by climbing through one of the large cracks to escape through the wings.
The footage also showed lots of rescue workers around the jet supporting the passengers out of the scene of the accident.
The airport has been closed temporarily with inbound flights diverting to Istanbul’s main airport through gaps in the fuselage.
This accident makes the second after another Pegasus plane skidded off the runway in Istanbul at the same airport. There were no deaths or injuries in that accident.
