Three die after Turkish plane skids off runway
A fatal crash during poor weather at an Istanbul airport comes on the heels of other recent disasters, including an avalanche and earthquake, raising fears about safety in Turkey.
ISTANBUL — Flights resumed at an Istanbul airport on Thursday, one day after a plane skidded off a runway and broke apart, killing three people and hurting 180. It was the airline’s second runway excursion at the airport in one month, stirring fears about safety at the city’s busy air hubs.
Flight PC2193 operated by discount carrier Pegasus Airlines made a rough landing at Sabiha Gokcen Airport on Istanbul’s Asian side in poor weather conditions including low visibility, strong winds and heavy rain. It failed to stop before hitting the end of the tarmac and fell 30 to 40 meters into a ditch by the side of a motorway.
The plane, traveling from the western city of Izmir, had 183 passengers and crew members on board, including 22 foreign nationals, said the Istanbul governor’s office. Four people were in serious condition, its statement read, while doctors reported that most of the injuries they were seeing were broken bones and head trauma.
Television footage showed the fuselage in three pieces, with the cockpit flipped upside down. Injured passengers crawled out of the wrecked plane, which briefly caught fire, and some had to wait an hour at the site before boarding buses. Workers were removing the wreckage on Thursday as police stood guard around the crash site.
