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After 157 people lost their lives in a plane crash in Ethiopia on March 10, Turkish Airlines (THY) has suspended the flight operations of all 12 Boeing 737 Max type planes in its fleet as of yesterday (March 12).
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has released a written statement and announced that "the flights of Boeing 737 MAX 8 and/or Boeing 737 MAX 9 type planes have been suspended until further notice as a precautionary measure to ensure flight safety."
Making a statement on Twitter, THY Director General Bilal Ekşi has also said, "Our flight safety and security are our primary priority. Until the uncertainty which has arisen in the 737 MAX planes during flight and would affect safety is eliminated, our planes have been withdrawn from commercial flights."
Boeing 737 Max planes only in THY fleet in Turkey
Turkish Airlines is the only airline company operating in Turkey with Boeing 737 Max type aircraft in its fleet. There are no planes of this type in the air fleets of Pegasus, Sun Express, Onur Air, Atlas Jet or Anadolu Air.
Planes taking off from Turkey diverted back
After the United Kingdom (UK) decided to close its airspace to the Boeing 737 Max planes yesterday afternoon, two planes which took off from Turkey for the country had to return to Turkey over Germany and Czechia.
One of these planes, operating with the flight number TK1969, took off from İstanbul Atatürk Airport on 2.28. p.m. and was to land in Birmingham while the other one, operating with the flight number TK1997, took off from the same airport on 2.35 p.m. and was to land in Gatwick, London.
Similarly, the plane with TK595 flight number which took off from İstanbul on 2.35 p.m. for Nouakchott, Mauritania had to turn back over Palermo, Italy.
Flightradar24 website has shared the return of the planes with flight numbers TK1969, TK1997 and TK595 on its website.
Click here to watch the return of TK1997 over radar
Click here to watch the return of TK1969 over radar
Click here to watch the return of TK595 over radar
Countries which have suspended Boeing 737 Max
After the plane crash in Ethiopia, a large number of countries have suspended the flights of Boeing 737 Max type planes until the cause of the crash has been determined and "the security risks have been examined."
These countries are: Australia, Brazil, China, Argentina, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Mexico, South Korea, Vietnam, Cayman Islands, Norway, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Turkey.
Suspending the flights of the Boeing 737 Max, the UK has also closed its airspace to all flights with Boeing 737 Max 8 planes.
What happened?
157 people lost their lives in a plane crash on March 10, 2019. In the plane which took off for the capital of Kenya, Nairobi, there were also 22 United Nations (UN) personnel on board, trying to go to the capital to attend the assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
This plane crash has caused concerns over the Boeing 737 Max 8 type planes. In fact, having been in operation since 2017, Boeing 737 Max 8 model involved in another crash in October 2018.
Shortly after taking off from Jakarta, a plane of Indonesia-based Lion Air Airlines crashed and claimed the lives of 189 people.
After the crash on March 10, the US-based Boeing company has promised to make a "software update" in all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. (EKN/PT/SD)
