Turkish Plane Crashes At Amsterdam Airport

[H2oDunc]

Just watching the news looking at a Turkish airlines 737 / 777 aircraft in a field near Schipol, Amsterdam. They are saying 7 dead up to now but it has to be more looking at it. Its not looking good. The fuselage is laying broken in a field with now wings but no fire. Terrible thing to happen. Is on BBC World NOW!.

[H2oDunc]

They have just added that it is flight 1951 if anybody is worried. I would hazard a guess it was landing as no fire. Lots of ambulances but still no more on casualties. Lets hope its low!

[ChangMaiSausage]

Not good, funnily (not the accident) but there is a radio advertisement playing here in Qatar on a local radio station selling Turkish airlines as one of the new and exciting carriers for wotrld travel (140 countries) I think I will pass.

[george]

Not directly Thailand related, but World News.

Turkish plane crashes at Amsterdam airport

(CNN) -- A passenger jet carrying more than 130 people crashed into a field as it was coming into land in Amsterdam Wednesday. The Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 broke into three pieces on impact, but fatalities were initially thought to be minimal.

Images from the scene of the Amsterdam crash show the plane broken into three pieces.

There were conflicting reports about whether anyone was killed on the plane, which had 127 passengers and seven crew members.

The airline spokesman and Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said no one had died, but an airline official told CNN sister station CNN-Turk that at least one person was confirmed dead.

Twenty people were injured, the airline spokesman said.

A passenger on the plane who spoke to Turkish network DHA said he saw injured people trapped and squeezed between the seats when he walked off the plane.

Journalist Ivan Watson in Istanbul said Turkish media quoted one crash survivor as saying that the back of the plane hit the ground first. "He said it was not an extremely horrible situation, it was like being in turbulence. He said it was more like a sudden impact, then we stopped." Video Watch reports on Turkish plane crash »

The Boeing 737-800, which originated from Istanbul, Turkey, was trying to land at Schiphol International Airport when it went down at about 10:40 a.m. local time, Dutch airport officials said.

Pictures from the scene showed the plane broken in three pieces. One tear was in front of the wing, splitting the "Turkish" logo in two, and a larger tear was farther back along he fuselage.

Most of the injured were seated toward the back of the plane, which sustained the most damage, a passenger on the plane told Turkish station NTV. Many of the passengers simply walked off the plane through the cracks in the fuselage, witnesses told NTV.

Images from the scene showed medics treating passengers on the ground next to the buckled hulk of the plane, while firefighters and police examined the aircraft.

Emergency exits were wide open and there was no signs of fire damage to the fuselage. Also visible was one of the aircraft's engines, apparently separated from the shattered remains of one of the wings.

The plane landed in a flat farmer's field near the airport, RTL journalist Greg Crouch told CNN. He said the weather at the time was partly sunny with no wind or rain.

A bank manager who was a passenger on the plane told NTV that there were no emergency announcements. The crew's last word to the cabin was an announcement to fasten seatbelts and prepare for landing, the bank manager said.

He said he felt the pilot giving more power to the engines before a sudden drop and then the crash. He described the crash as similar to a sudden impact that was over in a matter of seconds.

Kieran Daly, of Air Transport Intelligence said the impact had been severe but it could have been survivable because of the lack of fire. He added that there had been vast improvements in the materials used to build airplanes, meaning they did not burn as easily.

Daly also said that the Boeing 737-800 is a reliable aircraft that has been successful and safe in service.

"They really are pretty much state-of-the-art airlines with every imaginable technical benefit the industry has come up with over the years," Daly told CNN.

"You would be optimistic that they would be quite survivable in an accident." Daly said the Turkish aviation industry has a "pretty good record" of safety, and that Turkish Airlines, the national carrier, has a "very good record."

The airline's last accident was of a small commuter jet in 2003, he said. It was a fatal crash that happened at a remote airfield in eastern Turkey, he said. "Their mainline operation is safe," Daly said. "Their pilots are well thought of."

The last accident at Schiphol Airport happened in December 2003 when an EasyJet flight carrying 103 passengers to London collided on takeoff with a lamppost during icy conditions, according to Aviation Safety Network's Web site. The crash caused significant damage to the aircraft, but no one was killed.

The other two most recent accidents at Schiphol -- in 1998 and 1997 -- also resulted in no fatalities, according to the network.

The last fatal incident at the Amsterdam airport happened in April 1994 when a KLM aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff as it tried to return to Schiphol. Three of the 24 passengers and crew members on board were killed.

-- CNN 2009-02-25

[Mosha]

Aircraft was a 8 year old 737-800. Reports from the ground say 7 deaths. TK are also a member of Star Alliance, although some places I've read suggest if you have an aircraft you can join SA.

[H2oDunc]

The plane had 135 people on board, Flight TK1951. It was landing at Schipol, Amsterdam in normal weather conditions. It was a 737 800 and it came down short of the runway. Press conference scheduled for around 20 minutes.

[jtp]

Can we get some pictures of this tragedy?Always of interest and concern when an airliner crashes.

[jtp]

Thanks George.

[jtp]

What the hel_l?? Did he land too hard,or something?Looks like the plane is split in three?

[siam2007]

sh*t..... I used them often to get to Asia in 2003-2005...... actually they have the WORST safety record of the 50 biggest airlines in the world.... but I thought they had somehow learned their lesson.....

had some friends who wanted to visit me here in Thailand late last year, but they cancelled as the only available option would have been TURKISH, and they refused to fly with them.....

but I just read the latest news (26 minutes ago, from AP), and they said ALL ON BOARD SURVIVED.... let's hope it is really like that

[jtp]

sh*t..... I used them often to get to Asia in 2003-2005...... actually they have the WORST safety record of the 50 biggest airlines in the world.... but I thought they had somehow learned their lesson.....

had some friends who wanted to visit me here in Thailand late last year, but they cancelled as the only available option would have been TURKISH, and they refused to fly with them.....

but I just read the latest news (26 minutes ago, from AP), and they said ALL ON BOARD SURVIVED.... let's hope it is really like that

That would be great news,lets hope so.

[JacknDanny]

sh*t..... I used them often to get to Asia in 2003-2005...... actually they have the WORST safety record of the 50 biggest airlines in the world.... but I thought they had somehow learned their lesson.....

had some friends who wanted to visit me here in Thailand late last year, but they cancelled as the only available option would have been TURKISH, and they refused to fly with them.....

but I just read the latest news (26 minutes ago, from AP), and they said ALL ON BOARD SURVIVED.... let's hope it is really like that

That would be great news,lets hope so.

9 confirmed dead, 50 injured

[WOWAsia]

There are "airlines" out there, I would never fly with, Turkish belongs to it!

[siam2007]

sh*t..... I used them often to get to Asia in 2003-2005...... actually they have the WORST safety record of the 50 biggest airlines in the world.... but I thought they had somehow learned their lesson.....

had some friends who wanted to visit me here in Thailand late last year, but they cancelled as the only available option would have been TURKISH, and they refused to fly with them.....

but I just read the latest news (26 minutes ago, from AP), and they said ALL ON BOARD SURVIVED.... let's hope it is really like that

That would be great news,lets hope so.

9 confirmed dead, 50 injured

sadly, it's true

Edited February 25, 2009 by siam2007

[londonthai]

in 2005 turkish planes from CDG had on average 580 minutes delays, which says a lot about quality of the airplanes used. I would not fly anymore with airline like this - once I fly with Biman to bangkok and the journey scared me a lot

[Mosha]

Latest I've heard is. 3 in the cockpit and 6 Pax. Was it an inexperienced crew with an assessor? Or 2 crew with an unlucky sod on his way to crew a flight from EHAM?

[george]

Update:

Nine killed as Turkish plane crashes near Amsterdam airport

SCHIPHOL, Netherlands: -- A Turkish passenger jet crashed as it tried to land at Amsterdam's main airport Wednesday, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 50 -- 25 seriously -- Dutch airport authorities have said.

The Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800, which had 127 passengers and seven crew members according to the airline, broke into three pieces on impact in a field near Schiphol Airport.

The injured included both crew and passengers, said Assistant Local Mayor Michel Bezuijen.

It is too early to determine the cause of the crash, Bezuijen said.

A news photographer at the scene said he saw an unknown number of bodies lying under a white blanket, Maaike Voersma, a journalist with Dutch newspaper De Bers, told CNN.

The Boeing 737-800, which originated from Istanbul, Turkey, was trying to land at Schiphol when it went down at about 10:40 a.m. local time, Dutch airport officials said.

Pictures from the scene showed the plane broken in three pieces. One tear was in front of the wing, splitting the "Turkish" logo in two, and a larger tear was farther back along he fuselage. See where the plane crashed »

Most of the injured were seated toward the back of the plane, which sustained the most damage, a passenger on the plane told Turkish station NTV. Many of the passengers simply walked off the plane through the cracks in the fuselage, witnesses told NTV.

Images from the scene showed medics treating passengers on the ground next to the buckled hulk of the plane, while firefighters and police examined the aircraft.

Emergency exits were wide open and there was no signs of fire damage to the fuselage. Also visible was one of the aircraft's engines, apparently separated from the shattered remains of one of the wings.

The plane landed in a flat farmer's field near the airport, RTL journalist Greg Crouch told CNN. He said the weather at the time was partly sunny with no wind or rain.

Witnesses said they saw the nose of the plane pitch up suddenly before the crash, Crouch said.

A bank manager who was a passenger on the plane told NTV that there were no emergency announcements. The crew's last word to the cabin was an announcement to fasten seatbelts and prepare for landing, the bank manager said.

He said he felt the pilot giving more power to the engines before feeling "turbulence," then a sudden drop. He described the crash as similar to a sudden impact that was over in a matter of seconds.

Kieran Daly, of Air Transport Intelligence said the impact had been severe but it could have been survivable because of the lack of fire. He added that there had been vast improvements in the materials used to build airplanes, meaning they did not burn as easily.

Daly also said that the Boeing 737-800 is a reliable aircraft that has been successful and safe in service.

"They really are pretty much state-of-the-art airliners with every imaginable technical benefit the industry has come up with over the years," Daly told CNN.

"You would be optimistic that they would be quite survivable in an accident." Daly said the Turkish aviation industry has a "pretty good record" of safety, and that Turkish Airlines, the national carrier, has a "very good record."

Turkish Airlines said it has 52 Boeing 737-800s in its fleet. They can carry as many as 165 passengers each, the airline said.

The airline's last accident was of a small commuter jet in 2003, he said. It was a fatal crash that happened at a remote airfield in eastern Turkey, he said. "Their mainline operation is safe," Daly said. "Their pilots are well thought of."

The last accident at Schiphol Airport happened in December 2003 when an EasyJet flight carrying 103 passengers to London collided while with a lamppost while taxiing during icy conditions, according to Aviation Safety Network's Web site. The crash caused significant damage to the aircraft, but no one was killed.

The other two most recent accidents at Schiphol -- in 1998 and 1997 -- also resulted in no fatalities, according to the network.

The last fatal incident at the Amsterdam airport happened in April 1994 when a KLM aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff as it tried to return to Schiphol. Three of the 24 passengers and crew members on board were killed.

-- CNN 2009-02-25

[hkt83100]

There are "airlines" out there, I would never fly with, Turkish belongs to it!

Turkish is still my favorite. Since the crash in Surat Thani, did you ever board a TG flight? Since the crash in Phuket, did you ever board a 12go flight? There are zillions of accidents, why do you fly at all? I do not want to be offensive, more or less it is just about "sh*t happens". I like the service on TK, the food is good, they have been always on time (at least ont BKK-IST-STR and back). New airbuses, all the la-la.

My condolences to the loved ones of those, who died in the crash, and I wish a quick recovery for those who got hurt in the accident.

[bkkjames]

There are "airlines" out there, I would never fly with, Turkish belongs to it!

Turkish is still my favorite. Since the crash in Surat Thani, did you ever board a TG flight? Since the crash in Phuket, did you ever board a 12go flight? There are zillions of accidents, why do you fly at all? I do not want to be offensive, more or less it is just about "sh*t happens". I like the service on TK, the food is good, they have been always on time (at least ont BKK-IST-STR and back). New airbuses, all the la-la.

My condolences to the loved ones of those, who died in the crash, and I wish a quick recovery for those who got hurt in the accident.

hmm well unlike surat and phuket where both planes were cleared to land in stormy weather, TK has a history of shoddy maintenence and pilot error.

More than 500 people have died on Turkish Airlines flights since 1971, including 346 in one go during one of the worst accidents in the history of flight.

Including yesterday's disaster, there have been six major accidents in that time.

The worst came in March 1974 when explosive decompression over France led to a TA plane crashing with the loss all 346 on board.

The cause was later established as a design fault on the cargo door of the DC-10 involved, which was named after the Turkish capital, Ankara.

More recently, in January 2008, an Avro RJ-100 belong to TA crashed on the approach to Diyarbakir Airport in Turkey, with 75 of the 80 passengers and crew killed.

In April 1999 a Boeing 737 crashed in the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, just eight minutes after take off.

There were no passengers on board, but all six crew members died in the accident.

In December 1994 a Boeing 737 crashed during its final approach to land at Van Ferit Melen Airport in Turkey in driving snow, with 52 passengers and five crew killed.

And in January 1983 a Boeing 727 landed short of the runway at Ankara Esenboga Airport in driving snow, before breaking up and catching fire. All of the crew survived, but 47 passengers died.

Others have died or been seriously injured in other TA flights, with the airline recording three major accidents on international flights, and 18 on domestic ones during its 75 year history.

The airline's first ever fatal accident happened as far back as February 1959 when a Vickers Viscount Type 793 crashed in heavy fog at Gatwick Airport.

The flight was carrying the Turkish prime minister, Adnan Menderes, to London for the signing of a diplomatic treaty.

Of 16 passengers and eight crew on board there were ten survivors, including Menderes.

From today's Telegraph

Notice a trend about accidents on landing or approach?

[henryalleman]

Aircraft was a 8 year old 737-800. Reports from the ground say 7 deaths. TK are also a member of Star Alliance, although some places I've read suggest if you have an aircraft you can join SA.

yep that's why Thai airways is also a partner

http://www.staralliance.com/en/meta/airlines/

[neverdie]

Very sad, RIP.

[apetley]

Latest news is that this same aircraft has been repaired twice in the last week for malfunction of the wing flaps.

These create lift on takeoff and drag on landing.

[neverdie]

Latest news is that this same aircraft has been repaired twice in the last week for malfunction of the wing flaps.

These create lift on takeoff and drag on landing.

Something I have said before & history has repeated itself several times, when airlines are suffering financially they try to cut corners at every opportunity, so nothing would surprise me.

It will be interesting to see the developments from here forward, the only true way to know what happened is to wait for the official report to be released in 6 to 18 months time.

They must have landed very hard indeed, I would suspect that alot of the injured have spinal & neck injuries. Very bad.

Edited February 26, 2009 by neverdie

[john b good]

sh*t..... I used them often to get to Asia in 2003-2005...... actually they have the WORST safety record of the 50 biggest airlines in the world.... but I thought they had somehow learned their lesson.....

had some friends who wanted to visit me here in Thailand late last year, but they cancelled as the only available option would have been TURKISH, and they refused to fly with them.....

but I just read the latest news (26 minutes ago, from AP), and they said ALL ON BOARD SURVIVED.... let's hope it is really like that

"they have the WORST safety record of the 50 biggest airlines in the world" Not so...."in fact a very long way from being correct"

Aeroflot has a far worse record with close to 200 crashes.

Turkish has had 14.

Garuda beat's Turkish with 21 crashes.

So where do you get your info from??

I have flown Turkish and found them to be average and certainly not the worst.

Also the international airport in Istanbul has close to the best duty free shopping in the world.

But at the end of it all what has it got to do with Thailand. We will need another sub-section on air crashes if we are gonna cover them all.

Edited February 27, 2009 by john b good

[john b good]

What the hel_l?? Did he land too hard,or something?Looks like the plane is split in three?

I guess that you could say that he landed "too hard" which might not have been so bad had he been on the runway.......

Date: February 25, 2009 Time: 10:31

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Operator: Turkish Airlines Flight: 1951

AC Type: Boeing 737-8F2

Reg: TC-JGE cn: 29789/1065

Aboard: 135 Fatalities: 9 Ground: 0

Route: Istanbul, Turkey - Amsterdam, Netherlands

Details: The plane was on final approach to Runway 18R when it crashed 1 mile short of the runway into a field and broke in three. Nine people were killed and 55 injured.

Edited February 27, 2009 by john b good

[Mosha]

Preliminary reports suggest that the radar altimeter failed. This put the auto throttle on idle which apparently the 3 guys in the cockpit failed to notice for 100 seconds.

[henryalleman]

Preliminary reports suggest that the radar altimeter failed. This put the auto throttle on idle which apparently the 3 guys in the cockpit failed to notice for 100 seconds.

latest reports confirm its was the altitude meter, he was repaired already 3 times before the incident, and it happend in other Boeing airplanes of the same model also. Boeing send out a request to there clients to check all altitude meters because there was water coming inside of them and that created occidation.

In contrary to Airbus the warning sign in Boeing is too weak to get the attention of the pilot, especcialy that almost 80 of the landings are performed by the Automatic pilot, so the pilots don't notice the second warning system that give warnings by impulses on the stearing wheel.

This also in contradiction with airbus where the stearing wheel is replaced by a joy-stick.

So the acident was a combination of lack of service and an inadequate warning system.

[Flatouthruthefog]

Very sad, RIP.

Agree. The only (maybe) helpful remarks I can add relate to those posters who are rightly concerned with the various safety records/levels of various airlines.

Please, has anyone out there heard of the 'No Fly' list, issued up to at least the mid 90's to all employees of BA and British Aerospace?

Here in Thailand in late 1994, a British Aerospace engineer told me that employees of both these companies AT EVERY LEVEL were banned by their contracts from flying on any airline appearing on the 'No Fly' list. This was a list of international airlines, issued & updated quarterly to all staff, of companies which in the opinion of BA, did not meet international standards of maintenance, competence or otherwise.

My source assured me that this firm clause in the contracts threatened instant dismissal to any staff found as passengers on the 'culprit' airlines named, WHETHER THEY WERE ON COMPANY BUSINESS OR ON HOLIDAY!!

I was shocked at some of the 'big names' on the list at that time. Especially SE Asia names! But this is so long ago it would be grossly unfair to repeat them now. Suffice to say the list then did NOT include THAI or Turkish.

But please - can anyone bring this list up to date? For the benefit of us all????

[henryalleman]

banned airlines in the EU (update 14/11.2008

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air-ban/list_en.htm