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A Turkish Airlines plane has crashed on landing at Amsterdam‘s Schiphol international airport, injuring at least 20 people. The plane, with at least 134 passengers on board, crashed short of the runway near the A9 motorway and broke into three pieces, but did not catch fire.
There were conflicting reports about the number of fatalities on Flight 1951 from Istanbul. Witnesses spoke of seeing at least 20 passengers walking from the wreckage. There were also discrepancies about the number of people on board, with the airline saying there were a total of 134, while the Turkish transport minister said there were 143. Earlier reports said there was one dead, and Turkish Airlines chief executive officer Candan Karlitekin told reporters in Turkey: "There are injured passengers at the back of the plane but there are no confirmed casualties."
Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim later said that no-one had died. However, a Dutch television reporter said he had seen five body bags, while Dutch radio reported at least six people had died. Dutch television reported that rescuers had been hampered in getting to the scene because the field was recently ploughed.
A witness who was driving past the airport moments after the crash told BBC News he saw the plane lying in a field just 60 metres 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."
Helicopters have been at the scene, and about 20 ambulances and fire engines have joined the rescue effort. All flights were suspended, but the airport has since re-opened. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft left Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport at 0822 (0622 GMT).
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.
courtesy: BBC
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