On October 9th, CBS reported an unfortunate incident involving Turkish Airlines. The airline announced that the captain of flight TK204, which took off from Seattle to Istanbul on the evening of October 8th, lost consciousness shortly after takeoff. The first officer had to make an emergency landing in New York, but unfortunately, the captain was later pronounced dead.

According to a statement from Turkish Airlines spokesperson Yahya Ustun, 59-year-old Captain Ilcehin Pehlivan was piloting an Airbus A350 when he fell unconscious just after the flight departed Seattle at 7:02 PM.

The statement described the situation as an “emergency,” noting, “Captain Pehlivan lost consciousness during the flight.” Crew members attempted to revive him, but their efforts did not succeed. The first officer made the decision to divert to New York, where the captain was unfortunately declared dead before the aircraft arrived.

Flight tracking website FlightAware documented that Turkish Airlines flight TK204, which had been in the air for eight hours over northern Canada, abruptly changed course to head south toward New York.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a statement confirming that the flight landed safely at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 6 AM local time on October 9th following the captain’s medical emergency.

Ustun noted that Captain Pehlivan had been with Turkish Airlines since 2007 and had recently passed a medical examination in March with no reported health issues that would affect his ability to perform his duties.

In their statement, Turkish Airlines expressed profound sorrow over the captain’s passing and extended heartfelt condolences to his family, colleagues, and friends.