New York (AP) – A Turkish Airlines passenger plane headed from Seattle to Istanbul made an emergency landing in New York on Wednesday after the captain died on board, an airline official said.
Pilot İlçehin Pehlivan, 59, lost consciousness sometime after Flight 204 took off from Seattle on Tuesday night, Turkish Airlines spokesman Yahya Üstün said in a statement.
The captain could not be revived through medical intervention, and the co-pilot decided to make an emergency landing, but the captain died before the plane landed, Üstün said.
Data from tracking site FlightAware shows the Airbus A350 landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport shortly before 6 a.m.
Arrangements were being made to get passengers to their destination from New York, the airline spokesman said.
Pehlivan had been working at Turkish Airlines since 2007, according to Üstün. A routine medical examination in March did not reveal any health problems that would have prevented him from working, he said.
“As Turkish Airlines, we are deeply sorry for the loss of our captain and extend our sincere condolences to his grieving family, colleagues and all his loved ones,” Üstün stated.
