Istanbul: Plane skids off runway; probe launched

Published July 25th, 2004 - 02:00 GMT
Al Bawaba
Al Bawaba

A passenger plane on a flight from Dusseldorf, Germany, skidded off the runway early Sunday after landing in Istanbul, officials said. No one was injured. 

 

The Turkish-owned private Inter Airlines flight, carrying 

102 passengers and six crew members, landed at Istanbul's 

Ataturk airport shortly after midnight, an airport official 

said. However, the Fokker-100's left side wheel system broke after touching down, causing the plane to turn to the left and skid off the runway, he said. 

 

"The plane skidded for about 1 kilometer on 

its left side on a field and stopped," Cefair Cakmak, a 

passenger, was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news 

agency. "People inside were screaming." 

 

There was slight damage to the plane and passengers were 

evacuated through emergency exits, the official said. 

 

"There were screams and panic after the incident. People 

ran into each other," Anatolia quoted another passenger, Emine Karakaya, as saying. 

 

Authorities have launched an investigation, the airport 

official said. (Albawaba.com)

© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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