During a Turkish
Airlines flight from Seattle to Istanbul, one of the aircraft’s pilots
tragically died in mid-air, although the plane was in the midst of making an
emergency landing after it became evident that he was having a medical emergency.
Captain İlçehin
Pehlivan, 59, collapsed while the plane was flying over northern Canada,
prompting the flight to make an unscheduled landing at New
York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport,.
Airline spokesman
Yahya Üstün wrote on social media that Pehlivan lost consciousness sometime
after Flight TK204 departed from Seattle Tuesday night. After the crew’s medical
intervention efforts failed to revive him, another pilot and co-pilot made the
decision to divert to New York. Unfortunately, however, Pehlivan passed away
before the plane touched down at JFK.
According to CBS
News, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a statement saying
that the flight "landed safely at John F. Kennedy International Airport in
New York around 6 a.m. local time on Wednesday, October 9, after one of the
pilots suffered a medical emergency."
In his post, Üstün
said that passengers on board the plane were rebooked on other flights out of
New York.
Pehlivan had
worked for Turkish Airlines since 2007. Üstün revealed that the deceased had
passed a periodic health examination in March, during which no medical problems
were found that would have prevented him from doing his job.
"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," he
said.
In-flight deaths
are an extremely rare occurrence. Medical emergencies aboard flights happen at
a rate of 20 to 100 per million passengers, with a death rate between 0.1 and 1
per million, according to a study published in the medical journal Hippokratia in
2008.
Vice
conjectured that the low overall death rate could be partly due to the fact
that there are often medical professionals aboard commercial flights, with a doctor
being present in 30 to 60 percent of instances. Moreover, 40 to 70 percent of mid-air
emergencies receive immediate attention from a healthcare provider.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
