The Turkish national carrier had to make a forced landing in New York after a pilot on Turkiye Airlines collapsed in midair, the airline reported on Wednesday.
According to airline spokesperson Yahya Ustun’s post on X, the previous Twitter platform, the aircraft departed from Seattle, a coastal city in western United States, on Tuesday night.
“During the flight, the pilot of our Airbus 350 aircraft TK204 from Seattle to Istanbul broke down,” he wrote.
“The flight crew, consisting of a co-pilot and another pilot, attempted an urgent landing, but the man passed away prior to the landing,” the statement reads.
The 59-year-old pilot, who has been employed by Turkiye Airlines since 2007, passed a medical check in March and there were no signs of any health issues, according to Ustun.
