Turkish airlines captain İlçehin Pehlivan dies mid-flight, forces emergency landing

A Turkish Airlines captain, İlçehin Pehlivan, died suddenly after falling ill during a flight from Istanbul to Seattle, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in New York.

Captain Pehlivan, who had been with the airline since 2007, passed away mid-flight, prompting the crew to divert to John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The emergency landing was executed safely, and passengers were re-routed to their destination. Turkish Airlines has confirmed the incident and expressed condolences to Captain Pehlivan’s family and colleagues.

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“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 in a post on X.

“After the first medical evaluation to our captain on board was inconclusive, the cockpit crew … decided to make an emergency landing, but our captain died before landing.”

An investigation into the cause of death is underway. The airline’s spokesman said that the safety of passengers and crew remains the top priority, and necessary procedures were followed to ensure a smooth continuation of the flight after the unfortunate incident

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

Although Turkish Airlines had not previously experienced a mid-flight pilot death, similar incidents have occurred globally. In 2022, two pilots died during flights, and in another instance, an Envoy Air pilot became incapacitated and passed away on an Ohio-bound flight.