At approximately 18:30 local time,[1] the plane attempted to land at Sabiha Gökçen in Istanbul in heavy rain and strong tailwinds.

It skidded off the east end of the runway[7] The aircraft hit ILS antennas and a small building before it fell 30 m down an embankment, impacting with a force that survivors described as like an explosion.

[12] Prior to the crash, Pegasus was scheduled to withdraw this aircraft once leasing expired, as the airline plans to move to an all-Airbus fleet in the future.

[13][14] The CEO of Pegasus Airlines, Mehmet T. Nane, stated that they had recovered the plane's black boxes, and had begun extracting the data inside.

[6][needs update] A preliminary report indicated that high tailwinds were present upon landing, and that the pilots, being unaware of this, may have ceased braking efforts prematurely.