Tragedy on a Turkish Airlines flight forced the plane to make an emergency landing when the pilot died in the air early Wednesday.
The Airbus A350-900 was en route from Seattle to Istanbul when 59-year-old pilot Ilcehin Pehlivan collapsed, according to airline spokesman Yahya Üstün, who shared the news on X.
The spokesperson said despite the flight crew’s efforts to administer first aid, the pilot died mid-flight. The other pilot and copilot then performed an emergency landing.
Flight tracking data from FlightAware shows the dramatic moment the plane made a sharp turn toward the Big Apple, eventually landing safely at New York’s JFK Wednesday morning.
Ustun added that Pehlivan, who had been with Turkish Airlines since 2007, recently passed a medical exam in March with no signs of health issues.
He was 59.
