The plane split into three pieces after what Transport Minister Cahit Turhan called a rough
landing, adding that there were no fatalities. He said flights waiting
to land in Sabiha Gokcen were diverted to Istanbul Airport.
A spokeswoman for Pegasus Airlines confirmed the crash but did not provide further details.
Istanbul
Governor Ali Yerlikaya said the plane was carrying 171 passengers and
six crew members from Turkey’s western province of Izmir.
Emergency response teams had taken 21 people to hospital and evacuation efforts were continuing, Yerlikaya said.
Footage
on Turkish media showed the plane’s fuselage, as well as a section of
it near the tail, had broken off. Passengers were being led out as the
plane lay on a patch of grass next to the runway. Dozens of emergency
response personnel were taking passengers out of the plane and carrying
them away on stretchers.
Earlier footage showed part of the exterior of the plane had caught on fire, which Anadolu said was put out by firefighters.
Turkish Airlines said it cancelled all its flight in and out of Sabiha Gokcen on Wednesday.
Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen and Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul, Tuvan
Gumrukcu in Ankara; Editing by Dominic Evans and Jonathan Spicer
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