Passenger Plane Goes Careening Off Runway During Airport Landing

A passenger plane on Saturday was seen on the edge of a cliff after it careened off the runway during a landing attempt at a Turkish airport.

A Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane was heading from the Turkish capital Ankara to Trabzon Airport when it exceeded the runway and slid off a mud hill near the Black Sea, The Times of Israel reported. No passengers were hurt during the incident.

The plane carried 162 passengers and crew members. The airport was temporally closed for several hours before it reopened, according to local governor Yucel Yavuz.

"We've taken all necessary measures. We will reopen the airport to air traffic as soon as possible," he said.

A bird strike may have caused the plane to go off course, the BBC reported.

Passengers inside the cabin using smartphones caught the incident on video. Screaming can be heard during the recording.

"We tilted to the side, the front was down while the plane's rear was up. There was panic; people shouting, screaming," passenger Fatma Gordu told news agency Anadolu, according to The Times of Israel.

Another unidentified passenger claimed that they waited inside the plane "for at least 20 minutes" before help arrived.

"There was a smell of fuel inside so we all thought the plane [would] explode, but thankfully it did not happen," the passenger said.

Pegasus Airlines released a statement that referred to the incident as a "runway excursion," according to The Telegraph.

"All 162 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew have been disembarked safely from the aircraft. There has been no loss of life or injury to anyone on board," the statement said.