A Turkish Airlines pilot died midflight, forcing the co-pilot into an emergency landing in New York City on Wednesday morning, authorities said.
Flight 8JK landed safely shortly before 6 a.m. at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
Pilot İlçehin Pehlivan, 59, « fainted during the flight, » and when « medical intervention to our captain on the plane was ineffective, » the co-pilot opted to land, Turkish Airlines said in a statement.
Unfortunately, « our captain lost his life before landing, » the airline said. Pehlivan bad been with the airline since 2007.
The Airbus A350 took off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 7:02 p.m. PT Tuesday, according to the tracking service FlightAware, and was headed to Istanbul.
Austin Mullen and Brittany Kubicko contributed.
