Turkish plane crashes in Amsterdam
A Turkish Airlines plane carrying 127 passengers and seven crew members on board has crashed while attempting to land in Holland.
The crash happened at around 9.30am local time on Wednesday when flight 1951 from Istanbul to Amsterdam missed the runway at the capital's Schipol Airport.
The Turkish transport minister said there were no fatalities following the crash, although at least 20 people are believed to be injured.
The plane split into three parts after it hit the ground next to the runway.
Yusuf Sharif, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Turkish capital Ankara, said the plane landed around 3km before the start of the runway.
"Passengers were shocked... the weather was fine... [they] have told Turkish media that at least 20 are injured," he said.
Sharif said the plane did not explode on impact and that there were no signs of fire from the wreckage.
Chris Yates, an aviation expert with Jane's Defence Weekly magazine, said that because the plane was so close to landing most passengers would have been wearing seat belts which may have helped to save lives.
He said it was possible the plane could have been struck by birds; as was the case in the New York Hudson river crash in January.
"Bird-strike is always a potential problem... as we saw with the Hudson crash, bird-strike can happen at any point," Yates said.
"When you get birds in the two engines you lose power and all sorts of horrible things can happen.
Anita McNaught, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Istanbul, said the pilot - who trained with the Turkish airforce - was praised for his handling of the crash by the transport minister.to the runway.
The crash happened at around 9.30am local time on Wednesday when flight 1951 from Istanbul to Amsterdam missed the runway at the capital's Schipol Airport.
The Turkish transport minister said there were no fatalities following the crash, although at least 20 people are believed to be injured.
The plane split into three parts after it hit the ground next to the runway.
Yusuf Sharif, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Turkish capital Ankara, said the plane landed around 3km before the start of the runway.
"Passengers were shocked... the weather was fine... [they] have told Turkish media that at least 20 are injured," he said.
Sharif said the plane did not explode on impact and that there were no signs of fire from the wreckage.
Chris Yates, an aviation expert with Jane's Defence Weekly magazine, said that because the plane was so close to landing most passengers would have been wearing seat belts which may have helped to save lives.
He said it was possible the plane could have been struck by birds; as was the case in the New York Hudson river crash in January.
"Bird-strike is always a potential problem... as we saw with the Hudson crash, bird-strike can happen at any point," Yates said.
"When you get birds in the two engines you lose power and all sorts of horrible things can happen.
Anita McNaught, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Istanbul, said the pilot - who trained with the Turkish airforce - was praised for his handling of the crash by the transport minister.to the runway.
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