One of the three Turkish pilots on board the Turkish Airlines plane which crashed shortly before landing at Schiphol airport on Wednesday was in training, officials in Istanbul have confirmed, reports the Telegraaf.
Olgay Özgür (29), who completed his formal pilot’s training in 2004, was learning how to fly the new generation of Boeing 737-800s, the paper says.
This explains why there were three, not two people in the cockpit. Having a third pilot on training flights is standard procedure for safety reasons.
It is not known who was in charge of landing the plane at the time of the crash, which killed all three pilots and six others.
So, captain and trainee in the pilot chairs, safety pilot on jump seat. Unless of course, turkish pilots train to fly from the jump seat?
In my crystal ball I see the trainee at the controls, and quite possible a semi CFIT/loss of control. I stress that this is my opinion, and not a confirmed fact.
Sorry, but I don't buy wake turbulence, dual engine failure, birdstrikes, no fuel or ice scenarios. 737 NG's simply don't drop out of the sky like this.
If I'm wrong, I'll be the first to appologize.