--- title: "Commercial Airline Pilot Dies Mid-Flight, Forcing Emergency Landing in New York" description: "With so many planes seeming to fall apart, one doomed Turkish Airlines flight saw another kind of horror when its pilot died mid-flight." date: "2024-10-09" modified: "2024-10-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pilot-dies-mid-flight" categories: - "Advanced Transport" tags: - "airplanes" - "flights" - "the digest" --- # Commercial Airline Pilot Dies Mid-Flight, Forcing Emergency Landing in New York ![With so many planes seeming to fall apart, one doomed Turkish Airlines flight saw another kind of horror when its pilot died mid-flight.]() *\Image: Horacio Villalobos / Corbis via Getty / Futurism\* ## Emergency Landing An Airbus flying from Seattle to Istanbul was forced to make an emergency landing at New York's John F. Kennedy airport around dawn today after its pilot died mid-flight. As the [*BBC* reports](), Turkish Airlines claims that the 59-year-old pilot, named Ilcehin Pehlivan, was in good health and had had regular examinations prior to losing consciousness during the lengthy international flight. To make sure they're fit to fly, pilots have to have medical exams annually, and those over 40 have to renew their medical licenses every six months, the British broadcaster notes. As an airline spokesperson told the *BBC*, the flight's crew "decided to make an emergency landing" when they were unable to revive him. He reportedly died before the plane touched down, and although the cause of death has not yet been released, it must've been a terrifying experience for those on board the plane. ## New York State of Mind A similar situation required another emergency landing in the state of New York nearly a decade ago — though that time, the plane landed hundreds of miles upstate in Syracuse. As the British broadcaster notes, an overnight flight from Phoenix to Boston in 2015 was forced to make an emergency landing in the northern New York town after its [57-year-old pilot died]() behind the wheel. During that debacle, the flight's first officer took over to execute the landing. Though the name and title of the person who made the call and executed the landing in the case of this more recent tragedy have not been released, it's likely that the plane's first officer or someone of similar rank did so given that Federal Aviation Administration guidelines — and those of [most of its global counterparts]() — require there to be [two people in the cockpit]() at all times. However, the European Union has, as the *BBC* notes, been [looking into changing its two-pilot rule]() in the wake of new technology [pitched by Airbus]() that allows single pilots to operate large planes while they're cruising at high altitudes. That change would, per the [EU's aviation agency's reasoning](), allow crew members to sleep during lengthy flights — but should the pilot become incapacitated as in this Turkish Airlines fiasco, who knows what could happen. **More on plane nightmares:** [*Flight Attendants in Boeing Disaster Feared Passengers Had Been Sucked Out Hole in Plane*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()