Commercial plane that skidded off the runway may become Turkey’s newest public library
By David Malone, Associate Editor
Passengers on Pegasus Airlines Flight 8622 found themselves in a scary situation on Jan. 13, 2018 when the Boeing 737-800 they were riding in slid off the runway and ended up teetering precariously on a small cliff above the Black Sea. None of the 168 passengers or crew were injured in the accident and, silver lining number two, the city of Trabzon, Turkey may just get a new library out of the incident.
Trabzon Mayor Orhan Fevzi Gümrükçüoğlu has requested Pegasus Airlines Chairman of the Board Ali Sabancı and the company’s General Manager Mehmet Tevfik Nane give the plane to the municipality so it can be transformed into a library. “Keeping it here will erase the bad memories attached to the plane,” the mayor said.
The plane was a rental and insurance companies are also involved in the matter, but Sabancı said the company would do its best to ensure the plane didn’t leave the province and will get back to the city.
The 110-foot-long aircraft would make a small, albeit unique, library for the Turkish city.