guvendemir/iStock(ISTANBUL) — One person was killed and at least 157 others injured after a plane skidded off a runway and crashed at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport during landing on Wednesday, according to the Turkish Minister of Health.
Firefighters, medics and police teams were at the scene, where the nose of the plane appeared to have separated from the rest of the aircraft, according to video from local television stations. Some parts of the plane appeared to be on fire.
The passenger plane is a Pegasus Airlines flight that was arriving from Izmir, on Turkey’s west coast.
There were 183 passengers and six crew members on board, according to Istanbul Governor Ali Yelikaya.
The condition of those injured was not immediately clear.
The exact cause of the crash is still unknown, although Yelikaya said the plane overshot the runway and then dropped about 98 to 131 feet.
It is the second time in recent years a Pegasus flight skidded off a runway in Turkey.
A commercial jet carrying 168 people overshot an icy airstrip at Ankara-Tabzon Airport in January 2018, although all 162 passengers and six crew members were unharmed.
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