Turkish Airlines pilot dies during flight from US to Turkey

A Turkish Airlines captain died after suddenly falling ill during an Istanbul-Seattle flight, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in New York, the company’s spokesman said on Wednesday.

Captain Ilcehin Pehlivan, 59, collapsed mid-air and a second pilot and co-pilot took over the controls, an airline spokesman said on X.

“İlçehin Pehlivan, the captain of our Airbus 350 aircraft with TC-LGR tail registration, which was operating the flight number TK204 between Seattle and Istanbul, fainted during the flight,” Yahya Üstün said.

"When first aid to our captain on the plane was unsuccessful, the cockpit crew... decided to make an emergency landing, but he died before landing," Yahya Ustun explained.

Flight TK204 took off from Seattle shortly after 19:00 Pacific Time on Tuesday evening. The pilot appears to have got into trouble over the Canadian territory of Nunavut, before his colleagues took over and headed for John F Kennedy airport.

The plane landed in New York about eight hours after leaving Seattle.

Pehlivan, who had worked at Turkey’s flagship airline company since 2007, was 59 years old.

Pehlivan’s death marked Turkish Airlines’ first such case, but several similar cases have occurred in recent years.