Plane catches fire after veering off runway at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport

5 February, 2020 | Filed under: All News,more news,Opinion,RECENT POSTS,Somali news | Posted by:
A view of the Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-86J plane, that overran the runway during landing and crashed, at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport, Turkey February 5, 2020. Reuters Photo
A view of the Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-86J plane, that overran the runway during landing and crashed, at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport, Turkey February 5, 2020. (Reuters Photo)

APegasus Airlines passenger jet flying in from the western city of İzmir veered off the runway after landing at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport on Wednesday afternoon.

The Boeing 737-800’s fuselage broke in three and caught fire. Firefighters and ambulances were dispatched to the scene immediately after the accident.

LIVE — Istanbul Governor Yerlikaya: 120 passengers are being treated for minor injuries after Pegasus Airlines flight veered off runway at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airporthttp://sabahdai.ly/ewula0 

View image on Twitter The plane was carrying 171 passengers and six crew members, according to Transportation Minister Cahit Turhan. He said there were no fatalities but some passengers were wounded. He said the accident was due to a “hard landing.”

“Our teams are currently evacuating the passengers. There are no casualties so far, only injuries,” Turhan said.

Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said 21 evacuees were hospitalized for injuries. He later updated that as 52. There were 171 passengers aboard the plane, the governor said.

The airport, which serves much of Istanbul’s Asian districts and the nearby industrial hub cities like Bursa, Kocaeli and Sakarya, has been temporarily closed to air traffic.

Turkey’s flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) announced that it was canceling all flights to and from the airport for the rest of the day.

Budget carrier Pegasus, the country’s second-biggest airline, uses Sabiha Gökçen as its main hub. The airline said in a statement that flight number PC2193, with the registration TC-IZK, skidded off the runway. There were no casualties and the injured were being transferred to hospitals.

Prosecutors in the capital Ankara have launched an investigation into the incident.

Strong southwestern winds and rainfall have been battering the city for much of the day.

On Jan. 7, another Pegasus 737-800 aircraft skidded off the runway at Sabiha Gökçen and stopped on top of a grassy area between two runways amid adverse weather conditions. No one was injured in that incident.

In January 2018, a Pegasus Boeing 737-800 slid down an embankment at Trabzon Airport on the Black Sea and stopped just meters from the water with its wheels stuck in thick mud.

After four days, the plane was eventually lifted back onto the runway. All 162 passengers and six crew were safely evacuated.

Pegasus, which has been flying for 20 years, has a fleet of 83 aircraft, including 47 Boeings and 36 Airbuses.

Source:dailysabah.com