A plane in Turkey skidded off an icy runway and landed halfway down a cliff face just feet from the ocean

A plane in Turkey skidded off an icy runway and landed halfway down a cliff face just feet from the ocean
  • A commercial plane skidded off a runway in the Turkish province of Trabzon.

  • One of the pilots stated that one of the engines sped up as they were landing which caused the aircraft to veer off of a cliff.

  • The plane came to a halt just metres away from the Black Sea. 


 

A commercial airplane that skidded off a runway after landing in northern Turkey dangled precariously off a muddy cliff with its nose only a few feet from the sea.

Images show the Boeing 737-800 on its belly and at an acute angle just above the water.

Preparations were underway on Sunday to begin moving it.

If it had stopped any further along the slope, the plane would have likely plunged into the Black Sea in the Turkish province of Trabzon.

The incident late Saturday created panic among the 162 passengers and crew on board the Pegasus Airlines flight, but they were all evacuated safely.

Trabzon Gov. Yucel Yavuz said Sunday that investigators were trying to determine why the plane had left the runway and that the airport would be closed until 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT).

Produced by Jasper Pickering.

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