The Turkish Airlines flight, after spending several hours in the air, was forced to make an emergency landing at the New York airport. About eight hours after takeoff, one of the pilots, a 59-year-old man, lost consciousness. Despite attempts to resuscitate him, he died shortly before landing.
The incident occurred during a flight from Seattle, USA, to Istanbul. Long minutes of horror unfolded on Wednesday as the Airbus A350 took off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 7:02 pm PT on Tuesday. At some point during the flight, pilot Ilchekhin Pakhlivan fell ill and lost consciousness.
After lengthy attempts to revive him, the decision was made to order the plane for an emergency landing. The plane had already been flying for eight hours, near Baffin Island, in northern Canada, when an emergency was declared. At that point, the crew made a sharp right turn and landed in New York at 5:57 a.m. Eastern Time.
Turkish Airlines did not provide details about the pilot’s death. However, they confirmed that he had recently undergone medical examinations, including in March, which did not reveal any serious problems. The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also confirmed that “one of the pilots had a medical problem.”
Passengers on board reported feelings of panic and uncertainty as the crew worked to resolve the emergency.
Cursor previously wrote that a terrible incident occurred with a first-class passenger aboard an American Airlines plane.
