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Plane crash lands at a neighborhood in Istanbul Turkey
26 May, 2010 | 11:59
Residents in Istanbul, Turkey were shocked yesterday when a plane crash landed in a neighborhood after its only motor broke down in mid air.

The incident which occurred on Tuesday morning shocked residents as some feared it was a terrorist attack.

Soon after, it was reported that the single motored airplane made by American company, Cessna was in fact used as a training plane for the Turkish military.

The plane which carried three pilots, took off from the Samandıra Military Airfield, Istanbul and was going to Yenişehir airport, Bursa, for a training flight.

Soon after takeoff, the airplanes only motor stopped working due to a technical fault which forced the pilot to make an emergency landing.

The plane which was travelling over residential buildings, managed to crash land in the middle of a street flipping on its top in the process. No residents were reported injured.

Miraculously, none of the three pilots had serious injuries but were taken to a nearby hospital, after being freed from the wreckage by residents who rushed to the scene to help the pilots out of the mangled plane.

Later it was reported that one of the pilots had broken his arm while the others were treated for cuts and bruises.

The pilot of the plane has been hailed a hero by the Turkish media for his efforts to land the plane, safely without crashing into or damaging nearby buildings.

One resident who witnessed the accident said “I was very scared, I thought it was a terrorist attack, but I was just confused after seeing the plane so close, I later realized that the pilot was trying to avoid the buildings.”

Another witness, Ramazan Şenol said to local media “I was in my garden with my partner, I saw a plane very close to the ground. The plane carried on losing altitude, it looked though the pilot was looking for an open field. I rushed outside to see what was going on and it had already fallen and smoke was coming out of it. The pilot did all that he can to avoid hitting any of the buildings.”

The fire brigade which came to the scene, sprayed foam over the plane after it was noticed that fuel was pouring out of its tank. The electricity was also cut in the area, for precautions after electricity lines were damaged while the plane was falling.

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