Plane skids off runway in northern Turkey

The plane came to a halt, dangling precariously off a cliff

A Pegasus Airlines aircraft is pictured after it skidded off the runway at Trabzon airport by the Black Sea in Trabzon, Turkey. Ihlas News Agency (IHA) via Reuters

A Pegasus airplane has skidded off the runway on Sunday after landing in the Turkish province of Trabzon, causing panic among the passengers.

According to reports the aircraft flying from Ankara to Trabzon went off the tarmac after landing and came to a halt just short of the edge of the sea.

Trabzon Governor Yucel Yavuz said all 162 passengers and crew on board were evacuated and safe early on Sunday morning. Mr Yavuz said the cause of the accident was not yet known and the airport was closed until 8am local time (5am GMT).

The Pegasus Airlines flight, a Boeing 737-800 plane, departed from Ankara late Saturday. Photographs from the scene showed the plane stuck in mud, dangling precariously off a cliff.

The incident took place just two days before the one-year anniversary of the deadly crash of a Turkish cargo plane. The Boeing 747 crashed into a village in Kyrgyzstan, killing 38 people and destroying at least 15 buildings.

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