Footage Shows How Close Plane Was To Diving Into The Black Sea

On the night of January 13, Saturday, a Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet skidded off a runway during its landing and almost plunged into the Black Sea in Trabzon, Turkey. None of the plane’s 168 passengers, including the pilots and crew, were injured in the crash.

This harrowing footage of the aftermath shows how close the plane was to coming to a halt in the icy waters, just off the edge of the runway. The plane was arriving from Turkey’s capital city Ankara.

According to the pilots of the plane, they lost control of their aircraft after a sudden and unexplained surge of power to their right-hand-side engine. The pilot, co-pilot and crew have now made statements to Trabzon prosecutors and both pilots passed breathalyzer tests, Turkey’s Dogan news agency said.

One of the passengers told that they had to wait inside the aircraft for 20 minutes for help and were later told to leave the plane through its back exit.

According to local media, the plane was struggling to come to a halt on the wet runway and couldn’t slow down enough to avoid skidding. Early analysis of the incident says that the jet was prevented from diving into the sea by its landing gear getting stuck in the muddy hillside.

Media also reports that the airport in Trabzon is still closed, pending investigation, as emergency crews are still working on the scene.