Aviation has been a curious and developing sector in our country since ancient times. With the flight of Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi, who is considered to be the keystone of the aviation industry, from the Galata Tower, it was accepted that the Turks were also in the aviation world. Of course, there were great tragedies as well as good developments. Here are the biggest plane crashes in the history of Turkish civil aviation, with the hope that they will not happen again…
Here is the list of the biggest Turkish civil aviation accidents, hoping they never happen again!
We have included 5 plane crashes in our list. If you like our list, we can also comment on the rest of the accidents.
1- March 3, 1974/ Turkish Airlines Istanbul-Paris-London flight/ 346 dead
On March 3, 1974, THY took off from Istanbul, not knowing that it would be the leading actor of perhaps the most tragic event in the history of Turkish aviation. The cargo cover of the TC-JAV registered American-made McDonnell Douglas DC-10 type aircraft, which will perform the connecting flight Istanbul-Paris-London, was opened while taking off from Paris Ory Airport. And then the most tragic event in both Turkish and world aviation history took place. 346 people lost their lives.
2- February 6, 1996/ Birgen Air Atlantic Ocean/ 189 dead
Once upon a time, there was a Turkish aviation company called Birgen Air that operated multi-partner charter flights. Birgen Air used to organize flights as demanded, like bus companies that do shuttle services rather than regular flights. For this reason, Birgen Air planes were often parked on the apron for weeks. Again in such a period, Birgen Air’s TC-GEN registered Boeing 757 lay on the apron.
While the plane, whose pitot tubes were not closed, was waiting quietly on the apron, the plane had other visitors. Bees nested in the tubes of the plane with the pitot tubes exposed. Because of this nesting, the pilots got the wrong information about speed and altitude while the plane was taking off, and it crashed in the low-lying Atlantic Ocean.
3- 19 September 1976/ Turkish Airlines Isparta/ 154 dead
On September 19, 1976, Turkish Airlines’ TC-JBH registered Boeing 727 aircraft took off to make the Istanbul-Antalya flight. The captain pilot of the plane, which came near Isparta, mistook the lights of the Isparta ring road to be the runway lights of Ankara Esenboğa airport, and landed the plane. Although the Antalya airport tower reported the situation, the plane could not reach the required altitude and crashed into a hill in Isparta’s Karatepe district. 154 people lost their lives in the incident. Today, when you go to the Isparta Karatepe position, you can find the pieces of the wreckage of the plane.
4- February 1, 1963/ Middle East Airlines Ankara / 100+ dead
On February 1, 1963, the aviation school was performing its usual training flights in the skies of Ankara. At that time, training flights were made with C-47 type military aircraft. But on February 1, 1963, things went wrong. The C-47 plane, which made the training flight, and the Vickers Viscount type passenger plane of Middle East Airlines, which organized the scheduled flight, collided in the air.
The debris fell right in the heart of Ankara. There is no exact number of deaths in the incident, but the first people to die by a plane falling on their head went down in history with this event. In addition, this event is called the Nation Disaster.
5- 8 January 2003/ Turkish Airlines Diyarbakir/ 75 dead
On January 8, 2003, Turkish Airlines’ TC-THG registered Avro RJ 100 type aircraft took off to make the Istanbul-Diyarbakir flight. There was no problem during the journey, but when the landing phase of the journey came, there was dense fog in the air. For this reason, the pilots could not see in front of them. Five of the passengers on the plane that crashed into the land were seriously injured and 75 died.
Deadliest plane crash in aviation history: Tenerife
We explained the Tenerife disaster, which was the deadliest plane crash in aviation history and resulted in the death of 583 people, down to the smallest details.
So what do you think about the biggest plane crashes in Turkish civil aviation history? If you like it, don’t forget to mention it in the comments! Stay tuned for the second news of the series…