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The pilot in charge of a plane that skidded off the runway earlier this month, killing three passengers and injuring over 100 more, has been arrested.
Pegasus Airlines flight PC2193, from Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean Coast to Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul, slid off the runway after a rough landing and crashed into a road.
Footage showed serious damage to the plane’s fuselage, which appeared to be cracked in three places.
Three people lost their lives in the incident on 5 February, while 179 of the 183 passengers and crew on board were treated in hospitals across the region.
The pilot now faces charges of “involuntary manslaughter and causing injury,” according to Anadolu, Turkey’s state-run news agency.
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1/25
People standing and analysing the fragments and remains of the Ukraine International Airlines plane Boeing 737-800 that crashed outside the Iranian capital Tehran on January 8
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
2/25 A hole in a part of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752
Iran said on January 11, it "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people aboard, in an abrupt about-turn after initially denying Western claims it was struck by a missile
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/EPA
3/25 Tehran
Iranians protested in front of the Amir Kabir University in Tehran after the Iranian military released their statement about the flight
EPA
4/25 Debris of the wreckage
Iranian president said a military probe into the tragedy had found "missiles fired due to human error" brought down the Boeing 737, calling it an "unforgivable mistake"
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
5/25 Tehran
Local newspapers in Tehran carrying headlines such as: "National Mourning", "Apologize, Resign", "Unforgivable", "Great Disaster" ... concerning the downed Ukranian jetliner
AFP via Getty
6/25 Kiev, Ukraine
Ukraine International Airlines President Yevhenii Dykhne stands next to a map of flight PS-752's departure path at a news briefing about the crash
Reuters
7/25 Tehran
The Iranian students demonstrated following a tribute for the victims
AFP via Getty
8/25 The Canadian passport of a victim
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
9/25 This combination of satellite pictures shows a before and after image of the crash site in Tehran
The image (top), according to Maxar, shows vehicles and personnel (centre) during accident recovery and investigation on January 11, with a wall by the soccer pitch (left) destroyed as well as a wall (top right). The image below was taken on November 27, 2019
Maxar Technologies/AFP
10/25 Ukraine
The portraits of victims with flowers and candles at Boryspil International Airport in Kiev
EPA
11/25 Holes in the wreckage
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
12/25 Tehran
People gathered for a candlelight vigil at the gate of Amri Kabir University
AP
13/25 People standing and analysing the fragments and remains of the Ukraine International Airlines plane
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
14/25 Protests against war with Iran took place in London
The demonstration was co-organized by the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament and the Stop the War Coalition, an activist group formed in 2001
Getty
15/25 A hole in a part of Ukraine International Airlines Flight
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/EPA
16/25 Labour Party leader spoke at the event
Jeremy Corbyn posing with an anti-war banner during the demonstration against the threat of war on Iran, in Trafalgar Square
AFP via Getty Images
17/25 A rose rests on a page featuring photographs of people who died in Iran
Iranian Americans from across California converged in Los Angeles to participate in the California Convention for a Free Iran
Reuters
18/25 A young boy protests against a possible war with Iran in London
PA
19/25 Holes in the wreckage
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
20/25 Rescue workers search the scene on January 8
AP
21/25 Rescue workers search the scene
AP
22/25 Debris of the Ukraine International Airlines
Reuters
23/25 Debris of the Ukraine International Airlines
IRNA/AFP/Getty
24/25 One of the engines of the plane lies among the wreckage
EPA
25/25 Debris of the Ukraine International Airlines
AP
1/25
People standing and analysing the fragments and remains of the Ukraine International Airlines plane Boeing 737-800 that crashed outside the Iranian capital Tehran on January 8
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
2/25 A hole in a part of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752
Iran said on January 11, it "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people aboard, in an abrupt about-turn after initially denying Western claims it was struck by a missile
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/EPA
3/25 Tehran
Iranians protested in front of the Amir Kabir University in Tehran after the Iranian military released their statement about the flight
EPA
4/25 Debris of the wreckage
Iranian president said a military probe into the tragedy had found "missiles fired due to human error" brought down the Boeing 737, calling it an "unforgivable mistake"
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
5/25 Tehran
Local newspapers in Tehran carrying headlines such as: "National Mourning", "Apologize, Resign", "Unforgivable", "Great Disaster" ... concerning the downed Ukranian jetliner
AFP via Getty
6/25 Kiev, Ukraine
Ukraine International Airlines President Yevhenii Dykhne stands next to a map of flight PS-752's departure path at a news briefing about the crash
Reuters
7/25 Tehran
The Iranian students demonstrated following a tribute for the victims
AFP via Getty
8/25 The Canadian passport of a victim
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
9/25 This combination of satellite pictures shows a before and after image of the crash site in Tehran
The image (top), according to Maxar, shows vehicles and personnel (centre) during accident recovery and investigation on January 11, with a wall by the soccer pitch (left) destroyed as well as a wall (top right). The image below was taken on November 27, 2019
Maxar Technologies/AFP
10/25 Ukraine
The portraits of victims with flowers and candles at Boryspil International Airport in Kiev
EPA
11/25 Holes in the wreckage
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
12/25 Tehran
People gathered for a candlelight vigil at the gate of Amri Kabir University
AP
13/25 People standing and analysing the fragments and remains of the Ukraine International Airlines plane
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
14/25 Protests against war with Iran took place in London
The demonstration was co-organized by the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament and the Stop the War Coalition, an activist group formed in 2001
Getty
15/25 A hole in a part of Ukraine International Airlines Flight
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/EPA
16/25 Labour Party leader spoke at the event
Jeremy Corbyn posing with an anti-war banner during the demonstration against the threat of war on Iran, in Trafalgar Square
AFP via Getty Images
17/25 A rose rests on a page featuring photographs of people who died in Iran
Iranian Americans from across California converged in Los Angeles to participate in the California Convention for a Free Iran
Reuters
18/25 A young boy protests against a possible war with Iran in London
PA
19/25 Holes in the wreckage
National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine/AFP
20/25 Rescue workers search the scene on January 8
AP
21/25 Rescue workers search the scene
AP
22/25 Debris of the Ukraine International Airlines
Reuters
23/25 Debris of the Ukraine International Airlines
IRNA/AFP/Getty
24/25 One of the engines of the plane lies among the wreckage
EPA
25/25 Debris of the Ukraine International Airlines
AP
Identified only as M.A., the pilot was interrogated by prosecutors investigating the crash after he was discharged from hospital, and was subsequently arrested pending trial.
Statements have been taken from air traffic control staff, airport employees and the pilots of two other aircraft who aborted landings just before flight PC2193’s ill-fated touch-down.
Conditions were difficult that day, with strong winds and heavy rain.
It followed a similar incident on 7 January, when a Pegasus plane skidded off the runway in Istanbul in heavy rain.
The flight was en route from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul when it slid off the runway.
The low-cost Turkish airline said that an aircraft had “experienced a runway excursion”.
Footage of the plane showed that the emergency slides were deployed, but no one was injured in the incident.
The airport was temporarily shut, with all departures and arrivals, both international and domestic, cancelled.