Three People Killed, 179 Injured in Hard Landing of Turkish Plane in Istanbul - Report

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The number of people, who have died as a result of the hard landing, conducted by a plane of the Turkish Pegasus airline in Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, has reached three, while 179 others have been injured in the incident, Turkish media reported on Thursday.

The fresh data were provided by Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, the Anadolu news agency reported.

Turkish Transport Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan previously said that no one was killed in the incident, and it was also reported that 139 people sustained injuries.

He added that flights waiting to land at the airport had been diverted to Istanbul Airport. Turkish Airlines said it had cancelled all its flights in and out of the airport for the day.

Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said that there were a total of 183 people aboard, including 177 passengers and six crew members.

Sabiha Gökçen Havaalanı Kriz Merkezi’ndeyiz.

18.19’da Sabiha Gökçen Havalimanı’na iniş yaptığı sırada pistten çıkan uçakta 175 yolcu, 2 bebek, 6 mürettebat olmak üzere toplam 183 yolcu bulunuyordu.

İl Sağlık Müdürlüğü kayıtlarına göre; 139 yaralı 18 ayrı hastaneye sevk edildi. pic.twitter.com/nIHau206Mr

— Ali Yerlikaya (@yerlikayaali34) February 5, 2020

"The plane could not hold on the runway due to poor weather conditions and skidded for around 50-60 metres", the Istanbul Governor added.

She also said that emergency vehicles are working to evacuate the injured.

Sabiha Gökçen Havalimanı'ndan saat 19.40 itibariyle 52 yaralımızı ambulanslarla çevredeki hastanelere sevk ettik.

112 Acil, 110 İtfaiye ve AFAD ekiplerimizce başlatılan tahliye çalışmalarımız devam ediyor.

Gelişmeleri paylaşmaya devam edeceğiz.

— Ali Yerlikaya (@yerlikayaali34) February 5, 2020

Earlier in the day, the aircraft, en route from Izmir to Istanbul, overran the runway during landing in poor weather, caught fire and broke into three parts.