At least three passengers died after a Turkish passenger aircraft veered of the runway and broke into pieces in wet weather in Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Turkey, Wednesday.
The crash landing of a Pegasus Air Boeing plane also injured 179 people, Turkish Health official Fahrettin Koca said, based on Associated Press report.
Video recordings showed passengers fleeing through a torn section of the plane's fuselage, with its rear portion on fire while its front part detached and fell upside down.
A Pegasus representative confirmed that the aircraft was a Boeing 737-800, part of a fleet that includes the Airbus SE A320 plane.
In a television statement, Transportation Minister Cahit Turhan said 183 passengers were onboard, including six crew members. One passenger remains unaccounted for, the AP disclosed.
The commercial aircraft had flown from Izmir, Turkey, aviation officials said, and based on photos the plane appeared to have crash landed on a slope from the airport and stopped short of a busy street, one of the main highways connected to the city.
Based on radar tracking conducted by Fligh Rradar 24, the aircraft was traveling at 117 kilometers an hour near the end of the runway when it plowed a slope moments after takeoff.
The 737-800 model, which has an impressive safety record, predates the 737 Max type that has been grounded since March following two fatal disasters.
Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya said the aircraft was forced to abort flight due to bad weather, and "failed to hold onto the runway," and skidded more than 60 yards before crashing into a ditch.
The governor, who is "deeply saddened" over the incident, said emergency medical personnel rushed to the crash site and took passengers to 18 different medical facilities in the city.
Situated on Istanbul's Asian side, the Sabiha Gokcen airport was ordered closed following the crash. All incoming flights were diverted onto the European side of the city to a new hub.
To Pegasus, the accident was not the first such event. Just this January, after a forced landing due to bad weather, one of the airline's 737-800s crashed off the edge of a runway at the same airport, but caused no injuries.
A Pegasus jet with 168 passengers onboard slipped off a runway at Trabzon Airport in Turkey in January 2018. There were no reports of injuries, but one of the engines plunged into the Black Sea as the plane lost control and hit an embankment.
