Expert report blames airport authority for Istanbul plane crash

AN EXPERT witness report made public yesterday says the airport authority of Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul was mainly at fault for a 2020 plane crash at the venue. The plane’s pilot was named as the secondary party at fault in the report presented to prosecutors.

A plane carrying 177 passengers and six crew members veered off the runway while landing on Feb. 5, 2020. Three people aboard the İzmirIstanbul flight were killed. A committee of expert witnesses was tasked with assisting the investigation.

Their report says the incident was not inevitable but rather “predictable and preventable.” It also says airport authority was “40%” faulty and pilot M.A. was “20%” responsible. The report also pins the blame on others, including the co-pilot, the head of the air traffic control tower and an air traffic controller, while another controller is acquitted of any blame.

Another expert witness report submitted to prosecutors shortly after the incident held pilots responsible for the crash-landing. The Boeing 737 operated by low-cost Pegasus Airlines was landing at Sabiha Gökçen Airport during strong winds and heavy rain when it overshot the runway, skidding about 60 meters (around 195 feet) before dropping into a ditch and breaking into three parts as it came to a rest.

Investigating the aircraft’s black boxes, witness testimony and weather data on that day, the 2020 report said the captain of the flight made several errors during the final approach for landing and attributed the mistakes to the stress the pilot had experienced due to an earlier lightning strike the aircraft suffered en route. According to the report, the pilot was above safe speed levels during the final approach and after touching down, he disabled the aircraft’s speed brake and auto brake systems before the aircraft reached the threshold speed of 57 knots. That report had also blamed the airport operator for failing to maintain a runway end safety area to prevent such incidents.