A volunteer says witnessed Turkish Airlines' pilot's last moments

"I saw the hand of the pilot in the front part of the plane. He was in the throes of death. When I arrived he was still alive but couldn't move. I heard him noisily breathing," Ismail Akyuz told the Dogan News Agency.

Akyuz, a Turk living in Amsterdam, and his wife were traveling along the highway near the airport when the accident happened. “We took notice of the plane after we realized it was Turkish,” Akyuz said.

A Boeing 737-800 plane, operated by Turkish Airlines, crash-landed in Amsterdam en route from Istanbul on Wednesday. At least nine people were killed and 84 others injured in the accident. The plane had been carrying 135 people, including seven crew members.

The three pilots, who were hailed as heroes for preventing a major disaster, lost their lives in the crash.

"When we first arrived at the scene we saw people lying on the ground injured. Some of them had broken legs... I entered the fuselage from one of the open doors and walked to the back part of the plane. There were couple of people there and we helped them to get out," Akyuz added.

He added that the passengers did not have their seatbelts fastened and there was no smell of smoke or gas. "It took around 20 minutes before the rescue teams to get to the scene as a secondary road leads there."

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