Turkish Airlines flight make emergency landing after pilot dies mid-flight

It’s every travellers’ worst nightmare.

Passengers aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Seattle to Istanbul, Turkey experienced a scary situation recently after their pilot became ill and died.

Captain Ilcehin Pehlivan, 59, collapsed mid-air, resulting in a second pilot and co-pilot taking over the controls, an airline spokesperson wrote on X.

The Airbus A350 plane made an emergency landing in New York, eight hours into the flight, and plans were then made to fly the passengers on to Turkey from there, the airline said.

According to the BBC, Mr. Pehlivan had flown with Turkish Airlines since 2007 and had been given a regular health check in early March, which found no health problems that might affect his job, the airline said.

The cause of the pilot's death has not been released. Pilots have to undergo medical exams every 12 months, while those aged over 40 have to renew their medical certificates every six months.

Currently, two pilots are required to be in a cockpit of large commercial aircraft at all times.

But the EU's aviation safety agency says technology is being built to enable a single pilot to operate large passenger planes during the cruise phase of a flight.

This would allow other members of the cockpit to rest, although the agency says there needs to be measures to ensure safety and to respond to crew becoming "incapacitated.”

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