- Author, Paul Kirby
- Role, BBC News
One Turkish Airlines pilot die afta im fall sick on im own flight from Seattle wey dey di north-west coast of United States to Istanbul for Turkey.
Captain Ilcehin Pehlivan, 59, collapse mid-air and a second pilot and co-pilot take ova di controls, di airline tok-tok pesin tok on X.
“Wen first aid to our captain for plane no work, di cockpit crew… decide to make an emergency landing, but im die bifor we land,” Yahya Ustun explain.
Di Airbus A350 plane bin land for New York and dem bin plan to fly di passengers go Turkey from dia, im add.
Flight TK204 bin take off from Seattle shortly afta 19:00 on Tuesday evening. Di pilot wahala start ova Canadian territory of Nunavut, bifor im colleagues take ova and head for John F Kennedy airport.
Na since 2007 wey Pehlivan don dey fly wit Turkish Airlines and for early March, im do regular health check, dem no find any health problem wey fit affect im job, di airline tok.
Turkey air traffic controllers’ association, TATCA, say im don serve di aviation community for many years, dem offer dia condolences to im family, friends and colleagues.
Dem neva release di cause of di pilot death.
Pilots dey do medical check-up every 12 months, while those wey dey old ova 40 get to renew dia medical certificates every six months.
For 2015, one American Airlines pilot wey dey 57 years collapse and die during overnight flight from Phoenix to Boston.
Di first officer take ova and make emergency landing for Syracuse.