Pegasus Plane Snaps Into Three Pieces, Leaving Three Dead
Taylor Rains February 05, 2020
One person has died and at least 157 others were injured after a Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800 skidded off the runway in Istanbul and broke into three pieces on Wednesday. Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said that two of the injured were in intensive care, but none were in critical condition. It has been reported that most of the injuries were broken noses and head trauma.
The Accident
Flight PC2193 was flying from Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport to Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport with 177 passengers and six crew members on board when it experienced a rough landing, skid roughly 60 feet and split into three pieces. Based on photos and videos posted to social media, it appears the nose broke from the main body of the plane, and the tail has suffered a large crack.
Some videos show a potential fire onboard and rescue workers trying to get on the aircraft. Transportation Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan has said, “According to information we obtained, a hard landing happened, and as it couldn’t slow down, it left the runway. A significant number of passengers left the plane on their own.”
The weather was reported to be poor during the time of the accident, and it is believed it played a part in the runway excursion. Audio obtained from NTV reveals that the airport had warned the pilots about strong winds.
The airport has been shut down and planes diverted since the accident.
This is a developing story.
Eeek! I['ve flow this route with Pegasus a couple of times!
Interesting headline... it makes it sound as though the aircraft just broke apart while parked, as opposed to from an impact. So, while the headline may be technically correct, it's misleading by omission.
There is nothing in the headline or article that claims the plane broke apart while touching down. The headline is accurate -- the plane did indeed break into three pieces, and three people died. It does not at all suggest what you claim -- you're reading that into the headline yourself.
I'm not sure that a title that says "Plane Snaps Into Three Pieces, Leaving Three Dead" is exactly accurate. I thought I read that the plane landed, then skidded off the runway at more than 70 mph down a slope. There doesn't seem to be a suggestion (yet) that the aircraft fuselage fractured while landing and that the fracture caused it to leave the runway. Instead, it appears, at this point, that the aircraft left the runway and the fractures occurred because it was skidding down a slope. That sounds like pilot error. And I think I've read that the airline involved has had several incidents where their pilots skidded off the runway while landing. Finally, isn't the 737 designed to segment on impact? I think the goal is to fracture forward and aft of the wing box (fuel tanks). The title of this article seems to suggest that the aircraft broke apart causing three deaths. That seems to suggest a causation belied by the facts.