Plane skids off runway in Istanbul, killing one and injuring 157

 

An injured person is carried away from Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-86J plane, after it overran the runway during landing and crashed, at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport, Turkey February 5, 2020. REUTERS/Kemal Aslan

 

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Pegasus Airlines plane flying into Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport skidded off the end of the wet runway and broke into three pieces after landing on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring 157 others, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

 

Speaking to reporters in the eastern province of Van, Koca said that one person had died in hospital after the accident but that none of the other wounded were in critical condition.

 

Police officers inspect 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/Murad Sezer

 

Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said earlier that the plane was carrying 177 passengers and six crew from the western province of Izmir. He said the wounded were being treated at 18 hospitals in the area.

 

"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 <BA.N>, 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.

 

Transport Minister Cahit Turhan said flights waiting to land in Sabiha Gokcen had been diverted to Istanbul Airport.

 

Pegasus <PGSUS.IS> 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.

 

A plane flying into Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport from Izmir skidded off the runway and crashed on Wednesday but there were no fatalities, Turkish Transport Minister Cahit Turhan said. Francesca Lynagh reports.

 

Broadcaster NTV said that the plane had attempted to land in heavy tail-winds despite the previous two flights holding off due to the wind.

 

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 media said was extinguished by firefighters at the scene.

Turkish Airlines <THYAO.IS> said it had cancelled all its flight in and out of Sabiha Gokcen for the day.

 

(Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen and Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul, Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Editing by Dominic Evans, Jonathan Spicer and Hugh Lawson)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-06

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That is actually fantastic numbers! Only 1 dead and 157 injured when a plane breaks into 3 pieces.

Obviously a severe wrong decission of the pilot to land with heavy tail-wind.

Another question is the condition of the runway. Well enough maintenanced to provide enough grip?

The third(!) runoff event for this airline since 2018.

What does that say?

 

Touchdown happened only 1000(!) m before end of runway, 1950 m after beginning of landing zone.

Latest says 3 dead.

Heavy tail winds ????

Why could they not land from the other end,,, controller asleep ?

Another 737...are we sure Turkey didn't shoot this one down? Or maybe Syria shot it down?

The pics looked real bad....its a miracle that nearly all survived....condolences

to the lost lives.

21 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Heavy tail winds ????

Why could they not land from the other end,,, controller asleep ?

Some runways don't have viable instrument approaches from both directions.

The max tailwind for landing on a 737-NG as I recall is 15kts as a customer option,

but the runway must be dry and other limitations like no spoiler and reversers inop, etc.

I always thought runways had sand at the end of runways because of this. A 2 story drop....... Aircraft carrier comes to mind.