Fatal Plane Crashes and Significant Events
Since 1970 for Turkish Airlines
The following are either fatal events involving at least one passenger death or significant safety occurrences involving the airline. Excluded would be events where the only passengers killed were stowaways, hijackers, or saboteurs. The passenger fatalities in the numbered events may be due to accidents, hijackings, sabotage, or military action. The events that are not numbered may or may not include fatalities, and are included because they meet the criteria of a significant event as defined by AirSafe.com
- 26 January 1974; THY F28-1000; Izmir, Turkey: This was a scheduled domestic flight between Izmir and Istanbul. The aircraft became briefly airborne during takeoff, but lost altitude, struck a drainage ditch, disintegrated, and caught fire. Four of the five crew members and 62 of the 68 passengers were killed.
Fatal F28 Events - 3 March 1974; THY Turkish Airlines DC10; Flight 981; near Paris, France: The aircraft was a scheduled international flight from Paris to London. During climb, a rear cargo door which was improperly closed blew out. The resulting cabin decompression caused damage to the main cabin floor and to some control cables in the area. The crew was unable to control the aircraft and the plane crashed. All 333 passengers and 12 crew were killed.
Fatal DC10 Events
Wikipedia Entry for this Accident - 30 January 1975; THY F28-1000; Istanbul, Turkey: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight between Izmir and Istanbul. The crew executed a missed approach because of a brief power outage affecting the runway lights. During the maneuvering The aircraft crashed into the Sea of Marmara while the crew was maneuvering for another approach. All four crew members and 37 passengers were killed.
Fatal F28 Events - 19 September 1976; THY 727-200; near Isparta, Turkey: This was a scheduled domestic flight between Istanbul and Antalya. The aircraft struck a mountain near Isparta during the approach. All eight crew members and 146 passengers were killed.
Fatal 727 Events - 23 December 1979; THY F28-1000; near Ankara, Turkey: This was a scheduled domestic flight between Samsun and Ankara. The aircraft struck a hill after deviating from a normal instrument landing approach. Three of the four crew members and 36 of the 39 passengers were killed.
Fatal F28 Events - 14 October 1980; THY 727; Diyarbakir, Turkey : The aircraft was hijacked while it was on an international flight from Munich, West Germany to Ankara, Turkey. The hijackers were taken into custody during a refueling stop at Diyarbakir. One passenger was killed during the incident.
Fatal 727 Events
List of Turkish Airlines Hijackings from Wikipedia - 16 January 1983; THY 727-200; Flight 158; Ankara, Turkey: This was a scheduled domestic flight between Istanbul and Ankara. The aircraft crashed about 500 feet (150m) short of runway during poor visibility (fog and snow) and possibly wind shear. There were 47 fatalities among the 60 passengers.
Fatal 727 Events
Wikipedia Entry for this Accident - 29 December 1994; THY Turkish Airlines 737-400; Flight 278; near Van, Turkey: This was a scheduled domestic flight from Ankara to Van. The aircraft hit a hill four km from the airport during the plane's fourth landing attempt. Five of the seven crew members and 52 of the 69 passengers were killed.
Fatal 737 Events
Wikipedia Entry for this Accident7 April 1999; THY Turkish Airlines 737-400; Flight 5904; near Ceyhan, Turkey: The aircraft crashed near Ceyhan, Turkey shortly after takeoff from Adana, Turkey. This was a repositioning flight from Adana, Turkey to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and did not have any passengers on board. All six crew members were killed. This was not a fatal event as defined by AirSafe.com and does not contribute to the fatal event rate for this airline.
Fatal 737 Events
Wikipedia Entry for this Accident - 8 January 2003; Turkish Airlines RJ100; Flight 634; Diyarbakir, Turkey:
The aircraft had departed from Istanbul and crashed shortly before landing in Diyarbakir, a city near Turkey's border with Iraq. Four of the five crew members and 71 of the 75 passengers were killed in the crash.
Fatal RJ70/RJ100 Events
Wikipedia Entry for this Accident -
25 February 2009; Turkish Airlines 737-800; Flight 1951; Amsterdam, Netherlands: The aircraft, on a scheduled international flight from Istanbul, Turkey, to Amsterdam, Netherlands crashed in a field about a mile (1.6 km) short of the runway. Four of the seven crew members, including both pilots, were killed, as were five of the 128 passengers.
Preliminary reports from the Dutch accident investigators suggest that a malfunctioning altimeter may have led the flight control system to command a reduction in thrust, as well as a significant drop in airspeed and altitude, during final approach.
Fatal 737 Events
Wikipedia Entry for this Accident
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Turkish Airlines Crash in Amsterdam
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http://airsafe.com/events/airlines/turkish.htm -- Revised: 28 February 2009
