A twin-tragedy was averted, Wednesday, as a pilot collapsed and died in-flight, and another pilot had to make an emergency landing.
The Turkish Airlines flight, an Airbus 350, flight TK204, made an emergency landing at the JFK International Airport, New York, after the pilot lost consciousness mid-flight, the airline said in a statement on Wednesday.
Yahya Üstün, Turkish Airlines spokesman, explained the circumstance of the tragedy on his X page, formerly Twitter, revealing that the plane had taken off from Seattle on Tuesday-heading to Istanbul. But the pilot collapsed during the flight and he died after all attempts to resuscitate him failed.
Üstün, in the statement on X, disclosed that: “The pilot of our Airbus 350, flight TK204 from Seattle to Istanbul collapsed during the flight.
“After an unsuccessful attempt to give first aid, the flight crew of another pilot and a co-pilot decided to make an emergency landing, but he died before landing.”
The flight tracking website FlightAware showed that Turkish Airlines flight TK204 departed from Seattle on Tuesday at 7:02 p.m. and landed at JFK on Wednesday at 5:57 a.m.
Turkish Airlines identified the pilot as İlçehin Pehlivan, 59, who had worked for the airline since 2007.
According to the spokesman, Pehlivan underwent a periodic health exam on August 3 and was given a clean bill of health by the General Directorate of Civil Aviation.
The said the diverted flight TK204 will be flown to Istanbul from JFK International.
“As the Turkish Airlines family, we wish God’s mercy upon our captain and patience to his grieving family, all his colleagues and loved ones,” Üstün said.
