HAARLEMMERLIEDE, Netherlands (AP) âÄî A Turkish Airlines jetliner plummeted out of the mist and plowed into a muddy field Wednesday near AmsterdamâÄôs main airport, but nearly everyone on board âÄî 125 people âÄî survived. The nine dead included both pilots. The Boeing 737-800 was en route from Istanbul to Amsterdam carrying 134 people when it suddenly lost speed and fell out of the sky about two miles short of the runway at Schiphol Airport, investigators said. The jetliner broke into three pieces upon impact: the fuselage tore in two near the cockpit and the tail was ripped off. Despite the catastrophic impact, the wreckage did not burn and scores of people walked away. Survivor Huseyin Sumer said he crawled to safety out of a crack in the fuselage. âÄúWe were about to land, we could not understand what was happening, some passengers screamed in panic, but it happened so fast,âÄù Sumer said on Turkish NTV, adding that the crash was over in 5 to 10 seconds.
Scores survive crash of Turkish airliner in Amsterdam; 9 dead, more than 50 hurt
Published February 25, 2009
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