Turkish Airlines Flight 1951, flying from Istanbul to Amsterdam, crashed at 10:40 a.m. Wednesday in a field near Schiphol International Airport and close to a residential neighborhood. The flight carried 127 passengers and a crew of seven. Nine people were killed and more than 50 were injured, according to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Photos show the plane lying in a field, broken into three sections. The Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 was approaching Schiphol for landing. According to Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim, at least 25 passengers were seriously injured.
The captain, Hasan Tahsin Arisan, is a former air force pilot and very experienced, according to Gideon Evers, head of Turkish Airlines.
Amsterdam media reports indicate that witnesses saw the nose of the plane pitch up suddenly before the crash. One passenger related that the back of the plane hit the ground first, breaking the airliner into three sections. Many of those on board were able to walk off the plane through cracks in the fuselage.
A bank manager who escaped without injury told NTV that their approach seemed normal until it suddenly felt as if the plane had fallen into a void, followed by turbulence that lasted from 3-5 seconds and then a sudden impact. He said that no advance warning was provided by the pilot, whose last communication was an instruction to fasten all seat belts for landing.
The initial impact onto the muddy field sheared off the hot engines and the loose soil likely absorbed the leaking fuel, which may have saved the plane from igniting into flames, according to Evers, who went on to say, “Certainly it appears to be an unusual circumstance, but as always the sensible course of action is to wait for the results of the investigation into the causes leading up to the accident.”
Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 passenger list available here.
Check out video footage below.