A Turkish Airlines pilot, Captain Ilcehin Pehlivan, tragically died after collapsing mid-flight on a journey from Seattle to Istanbul.
The 59-year-old pilot fell ill over Canadian airspace, prompting his co-pilot and a second pilot to take control of the Airbus A350 and divert to New York’s JFK Airport, where the plane landed safely.
Despite first aid efforts, Pehlivan passed away before landing.
The flight, identified as TK204, had departed Seattle on Tuesday evening and was rerouted to New York about eight hours later.
Turkish Airlines confirmed Pehlivan, who had been with the airline since 2007, recently passed a health check with no issues. Plans were made to fly passengers onward to Turkey after the emergency stop. The cause of death has not been disclosed.
Image credit: Kevin Hackert
…fully vaccinated????