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Plane dangles off cliff in Turkey

Passengers onboard the plane that slid off a Turkish runway say it's a miracle they were all safely evacuated.

The Pegasus Airlines plane
A Pegasus aeroplane has ended up metres from the Black Sea after skidding off a runway in Turkey. (AAP)

Passengers onboard a commercial aeroplane that skidded off a runway in northern Turkey before coming to a precarious halt on a muddy cliff metres from the Black Sea say it's a miracle they were evacuated safely.

The Pegasus Airlines flight had 168 people on board when it left the runway after landing at Trabzon Airport on Saturday before coming to rest on its belly just short of the Black Sea.

Some of those on board the Boeing 737-800, which had departed from the capital Ankara, said it was a miracle that everyone was evacuated safely from the plane.

Images show the aircraft perched at an acute angle just above the water.

Pegasus Airlines said no one was injured during the incident, despite panic among the 162 passengers. The six-member crew, including two pilots, was also evacuated.

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Passenger Yuksel Gordu told Turkey's official Anadolu news agency that words weren't enough to describe the fear on the aircraft.

"It's a miracle we escaped. We could have burned, exploded, flown into the sea," Gordu said. "Thank God for this. I feel like I'm going crazy when I think about it."

Another passenger, Fatma Gordu, told private Dogan news agency that there was a loud sound after landing.

"We swerved all of a sudden," she said. "The front of the plane crashed and the back was in the air. Everyone panicked."

Investigations into the crash are now underway.


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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