Pilots Say Turbulence Likely Reason For Schiphol Crash
Turbulence created by a large plane landing at Amsterdam just ahead of a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 may be the most likely reason it crashed, a Turkish pilots' association said.
Five Turks and four Americans were killed when the 737 crashed into a field short of the runway at Schiphol Airport on Wednesday. Among the dead were three pilots and a flight attendant.
A Boeing 757 appeared to have landed on the same runway just two minutes before the Turkish Airlines (THY) plane, the Turkish pilots' association (TALPA) told a news conference.
"Wake turbulence", an air turbulence created by a pair of vortices trailing in the wake of an aircraft's wing tips, could have hit the descending Turkish plane, preventing it from continuing to fly, the group said.
TALPA Vice Chairman Mete Dane demonstrated flight TK 1951's approach to Schiphol and said the reason why it had suddenly lost altitude pointed to wake turbulence.
The Schiphol control tower should issue full information about planes landing on the runway, the landing intervals, and what communication took place, he said.
A Dutch Safety Board spokesman said wake turbulence was one of the options its investigators were looking at.
"We look at all options and we certainly are not excluding this one," spokesman Fred Sanders said.
It was not clear if a Boeing 757 had actually landed just before the Turkish Airlines plane, he said.
A Schiphol spokeswoman declined to comment on any speculation while the cause of the crash was being examined.
BLACK BOXES EXAMINED
TALPAS's Dane said: "We do not have exact information about the distance between the planes and we do not know if our plane has been warned about the situation. But according to the records we have seen, no mention of it is made."
"We want Dutch Aviation Authorities to be neutral and release all information, including any which might relate to them."
Experts are examining the flight recorders from the plane, which are now in Paris, where French authorities are providing technical assistance. The Dutch Safety Board expects to present a preliminary conclusion of the investigation next week.
A THY plane carrying some of those injured in the crash arrived in Istanbul on Friday.
The company said the pilots who died were Captain Hasan Tahsin Arisan, Murat Sezer, Olgay Ozgur and flight attendant Ulvi Murat Eskin.
