Plane Skids Off Runway in Istanbul, 1 dead and 157 people injured

A Pegasus Airline passenger jet with 177 people on board split into three pieces and burst into flames after skidding off the runway at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport today.

At this stage, there has been 1 confirmed dead and 157 people injured.

The Boeing 737-86J departed from Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport at 4:40pm local time and was due to arrive at Istanbul at 5:45pm, but crashed at just before 6.20pm.

According to local media, the runways at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW), the second airport of the largest Turkish city, were slippery due to heavy rain.

Pegasus Airlines has confirmed a crash happened, but has not provided anymore details.

The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not made any announcement relating to the incident. At the time of publication of this new article, there have been no reports of Greek citizens among the injured.

This is the second incident of Pegasus Airlines within a month at Sabiha Gokcen International Airport. On January 7, 2020, Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800 skidded off the runway, forcing the airport to temporarily suspend its operations.

Back on 13rd January 2018 also, Pegasus Airlines Flight 8622 from Esenboğa International Airport, Ankara to Trabzon Airport veered off the wet runway at Trabzon, slid into the ground of an acutely angled cliff, and got stuck in the mud, which prevented the 41-tonne fuselage from skidding into the Black Sea. All 168 people on board survived and there were no reported injuries. The aircraft sustained substantial damage

Pegasus Airlines is a low-cost Turkish airline based in Istanbul. It operates a fleet of 83 aircraft, including 46 Boeing 737-800, one Boeing 737-400, 24 Airbus A320-200 and 12 A320-200neo.