AMSTERDAM — A Turkish Airlines plane with 135 people aboard this morning slammed into a muddy field while attempting to land at Amsterdam's main airport. Nine people were killed and more than 50 were injured, many in serious condition, officials said.

The Boeing 737-800 fractured into three pieces on impact. The fuselage split in two, close to the cockpit, and the tail broke off. One engine lay almost intact near the wreck in the muddy field and the other was some 200 yards (meters) from the plane and heavily damaged.

Flight TK1951 left Istanbul's Ataturk Airport at 8:22 a.m. bound for Amsterdam, then crashed at 1031 a.m. next to a runway at Schiphol Airport.

Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said it was "a miracle" there were not more casualties.

"The fact that the plane landed on a soft surface and that there was no fire helped keep the number of fatalities low," he said.