Turkish plane crash in Amsterdam
A Turkish Airlines plane has crashed on landing at Amsterdam＇s Schiphol international airport, killing nine people and injuring 84, six critically.
The plane, carrying 128 passengers and seven crew, crashed short of the runway near the A9 highway. It broke into three pieces, but did not catch fire.
Three of those killed were crew members. Their bodies have been left in the cockpit for the investigation.
Officials said it was unclear why the plane, en route from Istanbul, crashed.
The Boeing 737-800 aircraft came down at 1031 local time (0931 GMT), several hundred yards (metres) short of the runway. It had left Istanbul＇s Ataturk Airport at 0622 GMT.
An official told a news conference that six people were in a critical condition and 25 were severely wounded.
Another 24 passengers had suffered light injuries, she said, with the injuries of another 31 still to be established. Eighty-four people altogether have been taken to 11 hospitals in the surrounding area.
Michel Bezuijen, mayor of the Haarlemmermeer municipality under which Schiphol airport falls, said earlier: "We cannot say anything about the cause at the moment. The priority of the authorities is providing help and care."
Candan Karlitekin, head of Turkish Airlines＇ board of directors, told reporters in Turkey that visibility had been good at the time of landing.
"We have checked the plane＇s documents and there is no problem concerning maintenance," he is quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency (AP).
Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said it had been "a miracle" that there were not more casualties, AP reports.
"The fact that the plane landed on a soft surface and that there was no fire helped keep the number of fatalities low," he said.
One passenger aboard the plane, Kerem Uzel, told Turkish news channel NTV that the plane＇s landing had been announced when they were at an altitude of 600m (2,000ft).
"We suddenly descended a great distance as if the plane fell into turbulence. The plane＇s tail hit the ground... It slid from the side of the motorway into the field."
The Turkish ambassador to the Netherlands told Anatolia news agency there were 72 Turks and 32 Dutch people on board. No details on the nationality of the other passengers were given.
White sheets
Schiphol Airport spokesman Rudd Wecer earlier told BBC News that emergency services had reached the site quickly.
Television footage showed rescue workers laying out white sheets on what appeared to be bodies.
The injured people were being taken to Spaarne hospital, in Haarlem, close to the airport, while relatives of passengers were assembled in a sports hall at a nearby village.
Airport spokeswoman Mirjam Snoerwang said Turkish Airlines had organised a special flight to Schiphol, due to arrive at 1710 GMT, for family members of those on the plane which crashed.
Tomas Friedhoff, a student who was cycling past the scene, told BBC News he had seen the plane appearing to glide through the air, having lost all propulsion, before hitting the ground.
"The plane was nose up and the tail section was at a 45-degree angle. The tail section broke down first, which broke off," he said.
"And seconds after the crash people started exiting through the tail section...
"I saw dozens of people making it out very quickly, and as I was about to dial 911 the first sirens were noticeable, and within five minutes there were 10 or 15 ambulances."
A witness who was driving past the airport moments after the crash told BBC News he saw the plane lying in a field just 60m from the A9 motorway, surrounded by large clouds of brown dust and grey smoke.
"I saw the plane lying there in three pieces," said Nikolai van der Smagt, who works for a telecom company near Schiphol airport.
"The first people were just getting off the plane and they looked confused. There was a lot a dust, but no fire."
＇Lot of sirens＇
Resident Jonathan Nip described the scene: "What I＇m seeing now is the whole of the aeroplane - without any wings or front or rear end - is lying in the field and there are about 50 ambulances, a lot of fire trucks, a couple of helicopters, emergency helicopters, a lot of police, a lot of sirens.
"The highway which is running next to the crash site is closed right now because of the traffic that has stopped to watch the crash."
All flights were suspended, but the airport has since re-opened.
The last crash involving a Turkish Airlines plane was in 2003, when at least 65 people died in an accident in eastern Turkey.
Schiphol airport has six runways and one major passenger terminal. In 2007, it handled 47 million passengers, ranking fifth in Europe.
|
|
