02/06/2020 - 16:28
- Clarín.com
- World
A day after the rugged landing that left three dead at an airport in Turkey, passengers reported the nightmare they lived on Wednesday in the plane of the Pegasus airline.
Engin Demir, who was injured in the accident, told the NTV network that he noticed the speed of the Boeing 737 just when he landed at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen Airport on Wednesday afternoon.
Amid the rain and strong winds, the aircraft stepped off the runway and skated about 50 meters before falling into a 30-meter deep ditch, according to city governor Ali Yerlikaya. The 11-year-old aircraft split into three and passengers had to break through the broken fuselage to escape. In addition to those killed, there were 80 injured .
"Because of the speed, I think the plane could not stop. Everything happened in about two or three seconds," Demir said from the hospital where he is in Istanbul.
Location of Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul. (AFP)
The passenger added that he stayed a few minutes trapped by the pieces of plane that were falling from the luggage compartment.
"There were screams; I tried to reassure the people around me. Help came soon," he said.
Another survivor, Alper Kulu, told the DHA news agency that the flight was abnormal from "the beginning to the end . "
"It was a very turbulent flight. The plane landed with difficulty. It was going very fast compared to other flights, " added Kulu, who explained that after the landing the announcement of "Welcome to Istanbul" was heard.
In addition, he noted that the aircraft suddenly swung from left to right and then fell from its left side into a very steep ditch. He recalled that the impact completely turned the seats in front of him and that he left as soon as he could because he feared the plane would explode.
"There was panic and screaming. Everyone was asking for help. I left the plane on my own, with a broken arm, I climbed 30, 40 meters. I heard warnings that the plane could explode," he concluded.
The plane, which carried 177 passengers and six crew, came from the Turkish city of Izmir. On Thursday, Governor Yerlikaya reported that all the injured were stable , but four had significant injuries. He did not give more details. The three dead were Turkish citizens.
The CEO of Pegasus Airlines, Mehmet Nane, said at a press conference that the black boxes have already been recovered and are being deciphered.
The accident happened a month after another Pegasus plane with 164 people on board was confused at the same airport, on January 7. There were no dead or injured.
In January 2018, another Boeing 737 of the same low-cost airline got lost at Trabzon airport in northeastern Turkey, but there were no injuries.