PRISTINA: A Turkish Airlines jet carrying 143 passengers and eight crew from Istanbul skidded off the runway on Monday when landing at Kosovo’s sole airport, officials said.
“Turkish Airlines flight TK1018 from Istanbul has had a minor incident and fortunately no one was injured,” airport spokeswoman Valentina Gara said.
“The airport will remain closed for few hours until some initial technical investigations are finished.”
A flight from Brussels was diverted to Tirana, Albania.
Local media showed images of the Turkish Airlines jet standing in a grassy area next to the runway.
“Thanks God we (were) saved from a tragedy,” one passenger wrote in a facebook posting with photos of the aircraft.
Authorities are investigating what caused the incident.
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; editing by Andrew Roche)
Reuters
