by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:31 AM ET, Thu February 6, 2020
Three people were killed and another 179 were injured Wednesday after a commercial airplane skidded off a runway and crashed in Turkey.
According to BBC.com, a Pegasus Airlines flight was arriving at Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Istanbul from Izmir with183 passengers and six crew members on board when the crash occurred.
The Turkish Minister of Health said the plane overshot the runway and then dropped between 98 and 131 feet. Emergency personnel was dispatched to the scene, where they found the nose separated from the rest of the aircraft.
Footage of the crash from CCTV cameras showed the plane skidding off the runway, and video shared on Twitter showed the aftermath of the accident:
Three people were confirmed dead in the crash, but the injury status of the remaining 179 passengers and crew members was not revealed. Istanbul Governor Ali Yelikaya said the cause of the accident was still unknown, but officials have launched a formal investigation.
"Pegasus Airlines shares in the profound sorrow of all the people affected by this tragic accident," the carrier said in a statement to BBC. "Above all, we would like to express our profound sympathy and heartfelt condolences to those families and friends who have lost loved ones and extend our thoughts to them at this difficult time. Our injured passengers continue to be treated in hospital and we wish them all a swift recovery."
In January, Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was accidentally struck by a missile shortly after takeoff from an Iranian airport, killing all 176 people on board.
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