Terrifying images captured Saturday night at Trabzon airport on Turkey’s northeast coast showed a passenger plane teetering precariously on a steep slope, its nose pointing toward the waters of the Black Sea below, after the jet skidded off the runway as it was attempting to land.
Incredibly, none of the 168 passengers and crew members on board the Pegasus Airlines flight were hurt in the incident, according to Reuters. Everyone was safely evacuated.
The Turkish airline said in a statement that the Boeing 737-800 aircraft had been flying from Ankara to Trabzon and “had a runway excursion incident” as it landed.
“We tilted to the side, the front was down while the plane’s rear was up. There was panic; people shouting, screaming,” a passenger named Fatma Gordu told state-run news agency Anadolu.
An investigation into the cause of the accident has been launched, reported the BBC. Provincial governor Yucel Yavuz said the Trabzon airport was closed for several hours while authorities conducted a probe into the incident.
The incident left Trabzon Airport shut but it reopened on Sunday morning.
In a statement, Pegasus Airlines described the crash as a “Runway Excusion Incident”
The airline said: “We’re sorry to report that the Boeing 737-800 type TC-CPF registered aircraft of Pegasus Airlines Flight Number PC 8622 Ankara-Trabzon flight scheduled at 18:25 UTC tonight, had a Runway Excursion Incident during landing at Trabzon Airport (13 January 2018).
“All 162 passengers, 2 pilots and 4 cabin crew have been disembarked safely from the aircraft.
“There has been no loss of life or injury to anyone on-board.”
YAHOO!
