Pegasus Airlines' Boeing 737-800 airliner slipped off the runway during a landing at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, causing a major damage.

The airliner's fuselage was broken into three parts and at least 120 people were injured and taken to the hospital.

Turkish Minister of Transport Jahit Turhan said yesterday that the Pegasus airliner slipped off the runway during landing, landing on Saviha Gokchen Airport from Izmir yesterday.

Mr. Turhan said, "There were 177 passengers in the crash and 177 people, including six pilots and crew, but no deaths."
"According to the information we've gained so far, it seems that the crashed airliner couldn't slow down at the time of landing and ran off the runway and hit the field."

Some local Turkish media say "one in two pilots are Korean and seriously injured."

But the Consulate General of Istanbul said, "As a result of contacting the airline, Koreans were not boarded in the plane."

A consulate official said, "There are no Koreans in the passengers as well as the passengers," the airline said.

Turkish local broadcasts show passengers evacuating through the breakage of a broken passenger aircraft.

Istanbul's Governor Ali Jerrikaya said, "To date, 120 wounded have been taken to a nearby hospital."

"Most of the injured are in good health," he said. "It's very sad, but I'm glad I avoided bigger accidents."

Yesterday there was a strong wind with rain all day in Istanbul, which caused the Sabiha Gokcen Airport to stop operating until 9:30 pm.

The Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737 slipped on the runway in a rainy weather while landing at Sabiha Gokcen Airport on the 7th of last month.

There were 164 passengers at the time, but no casualties occurred.

Pegasus Airlines, Turkey's second largest airline, operates 83 aircraft, including 47 Boeing aircraft and 36 Airbus aircraft.

Turkey's state-run Anatolu news agency says prosecutors have launched an investigation into the incident.

(Photo: Anadolu, Yonhap News)