Aviation Safety

Turkish Airlines pilot dies mid-flight, plane makes emergency landing in New York

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A Turkish Airlines Airbus A350-941 touches down at San Francisco Airport. (Photo: Bill Abbott, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

A Turkish Airlines flight from Seattle to Istanbul made an emergency landing at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport early Wednesday morning after the captain died mid-flight, airline officials said.

Captain Ilcehin Pehlivan, 59, lost consciousness while piloting flight TK-204, an Airbus A350-900 aircraft, prompting the co-pilot to divert the plane, according to Turkish Airlines spokesperson Yahya Üstün.

“When first aid to our captain on the plane was unsuccessful, the cockpit crew decided to make an emergency landing, but he died before landing,” Üstün said in a statement posted on social media platform X.

The incident occurred as the plane was flying over Greenland, approximately 3.5 hours before landing in New York, according to The Aviation Herald. Flight tracking data from FlightAware shows the aircraft touched down at JFK airport just before 6 a.m. local time.

Pehlivan had been with Turkish Airlines since 2007 and had undergone a routine health check on March 8, 2024, which revealed no issues that would have prevented him from working, the airline said.

“As Turkish Airlines, we deeply feel the loss of our captain and extend our sincerest condolences to his bereaved family, colleagues, and all his loved ones,” Üstün added.

The airline is making arrangements for passengers to continue their journey to Istanbul from New York.

This incident highlights the importance of having multiple pilots on board long-haul flights. Currently, two pilots are required to be in the cockpit of large commercial planes at all times. However, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is exploring the possibility of allowing a single pilot to operate such aircraft during the cruise phase of flight, a move that has faced opposition from pilots’ groups citing safety concerns.

In a similar incident in 2015, an American Airlines pilot died during an overnight flight from Phoenix to Boston, leading to an emergency landing in Syracuse.

Written by
Dirk Andrei Salcedo

Dirk is the founder and editor-in-chief of Aviation Updates Philippines (AUP), a platform dedicated to providing the latest news and insights on the aviation industry in the Philippines. With a strong passion for aviation and a background in computer engineering, he manages all aspects of AUP, from website development to content curation.

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