This article was originally published in Turkish
According to the Turkish carrier, the captain, İlçehin Pehlivan, lost consciousness during a flight between Istanbul and Seattle, the plane had to land in New York.
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Yahya Üstün, press advisor of Turkish Airlines (THY), revealed on X Wednesday that a pilot in command of one of the company’s planes suddenly lost consciousness during the flight Istanbul – Seattle and died during landing plane emergency in New York.
According to Üstün, “İlçehin Pehlivan, the captain of an Airbus 350 registered TC-LGR, which was operating flight TK204 between Seattle and Istanbul, fainted during the flight. The first medical intervention with our captain was not “having been inconclusive, the cockpit crew consisting of a captain and a co-pilot decided to make an emergency landing, but our captain died before landing.”
The plane, an Airbus 350, took off at 7:02 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, according to Flight Aware data. After unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate the captain, it was decided to land at JFK Airport in New York City after approximately eight hours of flight. The plane landed at 5:57 a.m. Eastern Time. The airline said arrangements were being made for passengers to travel to Istanbul on other flights.
Still according to the Turkish Airlines spokesperson, the pilot, aged 59, had worked for Turkish Airlines since 2007. He would have passed his medical check in March in a medical center authorized by the General Directorate of Civil Aviation and “no health problem has been detected preventing him from carrying out his duties.” The cause of his death has not yet been revealed.
Other cases around the world
Pehlivan’s death is the first case of a Turkish Airlines pilot dying in the line of duty.
On the other hand, similar incidents have occurred in various parts of the world in recent years.
In 2022, two pilots lost their lives during a flight. In the United States, an Envoy Air pilot was incapacitated during a flight to Ohio and subsequently died.
In Southeast Asia, a pilot working for Citilink Indonesia died following an in-flight complication.
In 2023, a LATAM Airlines pilot died of a heart attack during a commercial flight from Miami to Chile.
Additional sources • NOW
