New York: A Turkiye Airlines flight from Seattle to Istanbul had to make an emergency landing in New York on Wednesday morning after the pilot died mid-air. This information was given in a statement issued by Turkiye Airlines spokesman Yahya Ustun.

According to the official statement, after taking off from Seattle at 7.02 pm on Tuesday, the pilot of flight number 204, 59-year-old Ilchin Pehliven, fainted on the way. After this, he was given medical assistance, but the medical team could not succeed.

The pilot died before the plane landed

The co-pilot immediately decided to make an emergency landing. The plane was then over Baffin Island in northern Canada and it turned sharply to the right and headed for New York. It landed on the East Coast at 5:57 am. But the pilot died before the plane could land. At 5.57 am the plane landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

No problem was found in the investigation

The airline immediately arranged to transport the passengers from New York to their destination. The airline has said that Pehlivane had been working since 2007 and a health check-up in March had found no problems that would prevent him from working.