Turkish Airlines crash: 9 die after plane crash-lands at Amsterdam Schiphol
All but nine passengers and crew survived on Wednesday when a Turkish airliner carrying 134 people crashed on its final approach to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and broke into three.
The low level of casualties after Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 from Istanbul plunged into a muddy field two miles from the airport was described as a "miracle" by the Turkish government.
Passengers told of their relief and surprise as they described how the seven-year-old Boeing 737-800 had suddenly "dropped out of the sky" as it made its final approach to Schipol's Polderbaan runway.
Scores were being treated for minor injuries in hospital last night. One Briton was among the 127 passengers including a baby and seven crew members on board, according to the passenger charter. Four Americans who work for Boeing were also on board.
The plane is thought to have stalled before it crashed tail first and before the nose hit the ground, tearing the fuselage into three pieces.
The aircraft's engines separated to land 100 yards from rest of the wreckage on a crash site next to Holland's A9 motorway and several houses.
Binali Yildirim, the Turkish transport minister, hailed the low level of casualties as a "miracle".
"The fact that the plane landed on a soft surface and that there was no fire helped keep the number of fatalities low," he said.
Five people remained in a critical condition after a fleet of 60 ambulances ferried 84 injured people to hospitals in the surrounding cities and towns of Haarlem, Amsterdam, Leiden, Alkmaar, Utrecht and Hoofddorp.
Investigators were last night working in the plane's cockpit to find the cause of the crash and had recovered the plane's flight data recorders.
The plane's three Turkish pilots, including Captain Hasan Tahsin, an experienced former air force officer, were killed in the crash.
Jos Nijhuis, director of Schiphol airport, said: "There are still three crew in the cockpit, they are dead. We are sorry to say that we have to leave them there while we investigate."
Tuncer Mutluhan, a passenger, described how the plane suddenly plummeted to the ground during a normal landing approach.
"While we were making a normal landing, it felt like we fell into a void, the plane lost control, suddenly plunged and crashed," he said.
"It all happened in three or five seconds. There was panic after that."
Jihad and Hajar Alariachi, stars of a Dutch TV chat show Meiden van halal (the Halal Girls), were both injured in the crash.
"The ground seemed to be coming very close very fast. The plane slowed very hard, but that seemed to be part of a normal landing. Then we heard a very loud noise and then we fell backwards with the nose of the plane up in the air, and it felt like we hit something," said Jihad Alariachi from her hospital bed.
Miss Alariachi described her panic as she and her sister struggled to open an emergency in the tail of the plane before escaping with her sister.
"We wanted to get away from the aeroplane as we were afraid it would explode or catch on fire," she said.
"I asked a boy who was next to us, 'have we really crashed'? It was like a dream, just couldn't be true. It is the kind of thing you see on TV happening to other people."
Kerem Uzel, another passenger, said: "The tail of the plane hit the ground first and the plane dragged on the soil for a while."
One crash survivor, Huseyin Sumer, crawled to safety out of a crack in the fuselage.
"We were about to land, we could not understand what was happening, some passengers screamed in panic but it happened so fast," he said.
Fred Van Wely, 51, witnessed the crash from his car and claimed that the plane had tried to climb higher to avoid the nearby A9 Haarlem to Amsterdam motorway before falling into a field.
"The plane did not have enough speed and it crashed. The nose of the aeroplane broke off on landing and the engines landed in a neighbouring field," he said.
There was no immediate verdict on what caused the crash, which happened in slightly misty weather with little wind.
Baseless neo-sultanist allegations that a terrorist pigeon and rabid PKK sympathizer was the cause of the engines' malfunction were quickly subdued by Dutch antiterror police.
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Fatal plane crash Recorded from inside the planeby mybad67839,364 views
@gregolino86 You're welcome
MrMaxxer25 2 months ago
@MrMaxxer25 Thank you very much for your answer .
gregolino86 2 months ago
@gregolino86 1 cabin crew has died, 3 of the 4 boeing people have died + 3 pilots and 2 passengers. And the survivors say that 1 of the 3 pilot's had survived the crash but died after, probably because of blood loss. Or in other words he had much pain before he died.
MrMaxxer25 2 months ago
@MrMaxxer25 poor them.... may they rest in peace......... and do you know about the cabin crew? the air hostess?
gregolino86 2 months ago
@gregolino86 Not all crew have survived, the pilot's didn't.
MrMaxxer25 3 months ago
@leonelp51 indeed, this is a known problem for the 737... after this crash Boeing had to reconfigure 1000's of planes in Europe by command of the European Court in Luxembourg City... but the damage has been done... more and more companies switch to the airbus company...(Ryan Air, Wizz Air, Conair to name a few)
Sanderos25 3 months ago
@IGranturismo - English wasn't the interviewee's first language. He probably meant "It could have been a lot worse." In fact, he said that later. I'm sure all the survivors would back him up.
What's the weather like up there on the Moral High Ground?
JBofBrisbane 10 months ago
"its not bad at all it just dropped out of the air"He said.
Say that to the families of the ones passed away.Idiot.
IGranturismo 1 year ago
que mala suerte, entonces este accidente fue error humano???
saludos desde Mexico!!!
erayalcor 1 year ago
@maras4lyf the radio altimeter was fucked up, the autopilot was activated for autoland and started a premature flare, the 737 stalled and crashed
leonelp51 1 year ago