Pilots of crash-landed Turkish Airlines plane hailed as heroes
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Turkish media and experts hailed the pilots of the crashed Turkish Airlines plane as heroes for successfully landing the plane under extraordinary conditions, preventing a total loss of life.
The Boeing 737-800 en route from Istanbul with 127 passengers and seven crew members on board crashed while landing at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Wednesday, killing nine people, including two pilots and a trainee pilot, and injuring more than 80.
The plane broke into three pieces when it hit the ground about two miles (three kilometers) short of the runway at the airport at 10:31 a.m. (0931 GMT). The fuselage split in two, close to the cockpit, and the tail broke off.
Analysts and authorities hailed the skills of pilot Hasan Tahsin Arisan and co-pilot Murat Sezer after the accident in which more than 100 passengers survived.
Authorities said the toll could have been much higher if the plane had not gone down in mud, which lessened the impact and helped avert a fire from breaking out in the ruptured fuel tanks and lines on the underside of the fuselage.
In addition, having reached its destination, the plane would have used up most of its fuel, lessening the chances of a fuel-driven fire, they added.
"The fact that the plane landed on a soft surface and that there was no fire helped keep the number of fatalities low," Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday, adding that it was "a miracle" there were not more casualties.
Analysts say if one of the wings of the plane hit the ground first, the casualties would have been higher.
ARISAN THE HERO
Authorities and eyewitnesses especially hailed Captain Arisan, who graduated from the air forces academy in 1976 and joined Turkish Airlines in 1996, a hero.
"It costs his and his friends' lives but he rescued tens of people. There are few pilots in the world who can land a plane traveling at a speed of 200 km on such ground," a high-level THY official told Hurriyet daily.
Hurriyet said “He prevented a disaster” below Arisan’s picture, while Aksam daily wrote “They saved, they died” as its headline.
A Dutch eyewitness hailed the pilots as a hero for landing the plane to a place which was the only option.
"The maneuver he made was seen as a typical jetfighter drill to reduce speed for impact. By this he maximized survival chances for the passengers knowing that his own position would be worse. By doing this, the pilot avoids the busy traffic on highway A9 and any casualties there. Also th A9 is elevated, so impact on this highway would have been fatal for everybody on board," Jeroen Jonkers told in an email to Hurriyet Daily News Online Edition.