Passengers on flight 204 from Seattle to Istanbul were thrown into panic and mourning on Wednesday when the pilot collapsed and died in midair.
The jetliner later made an emergency landing in New York
The pilot, identified as 59-year-old İlçehin Pehlivan, was flying an Airbus A350 loaded with over 200 passengers when died.
“Pilot İlçehin Pehlivan, 59, lost consciousness at some point after flight 204 took off from Seattle on Tuesday night”, Turkish Airlines spokesperson Yahya Üstün said in a statement.
Medical intervention failed to revive the captain, and the co-pilot decided to make an emergency landing, but the captain died before the plane landed, Üstün said.
“Data from the tracking site FlightAware shows that the Airbus A350 landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport just before 6 a.m. (ET),” a CNN report monitored in Lagos, stated.
Arrangements were being made for passengers to reach their destination from New York, the airline spokesperson said.
Pehlivan had worked at Turkish Airlines since 2007, Üstün said. A routine health check in March showed no health problems that would have prevented him from working, he 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 said.
