Atlasjet Flight 4203
Encyclopedia
Atlasjet
Flight 4203 was a scheduled flight from Istanbul
's Atatürk International Airport
to Isparta Süleyman Demirel Airport
in Isparta
, Turkey
. On November 30, 2007 it crashed outside the town of Keçiborlu
, 18 km (11 mi) from Isparta at around 01:36 EET
(23:36 UTC
on November 29). The flight took off from Istanbul at 00:50 EET with 57 people on board, including a six-week old baby which had not been counted on departure from the airport. Atlasjet Airline's CEO Tuncay Doganer reported that no one had survived the crash.
The plane was a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 which Atlasjet leased from World Focus Airlines, whose pilots were flying it when it crashed.
news service said the plane's wings and engine were at the top of a hill while the fuselage was 150 m (500 ft) lower. A local reporter at the scene described luggage and debris strewn across a large area, which police have cordoned off. It was reported that the plane crashed away from the typical flight path. Officials are confused as to how the plane ended up there.
(the flight data recorder
and the cockpit voice recorder
) during the afternoon of the day of the crash. Weather conditions were good at the time of the flight, with a visibility of 12 kilometres (7.5 mi), and the aircraft had no known technical issues. The pilots were experienced and had just come out of a routine training session a few days before the accident, as reported by the Anatolian News Agency. Speculation on the quality of technical attention the aircraft received by World Focus Airlines received major attention by the Turkish media.
Upon investigation of the black box of the aircraft in Lufthansa laboratories, the cockpit voice recorder device was found to have been inoperative for the 9 days leading up to the accident, in contravention of regulations which specify that it must be made operable within 72 hours of the fault being discovered. In addition, the flight data recorder was not working properly and only contained 15 minutes of flight data. Analyzing the available data from the flight data recorder, the authorities declared that the accident was caused by pilot error as a result of the condition known as spatial disorientation
. The pilot is believed to have lost the sight of line for the horizon and instead of trusting the flight instruments
, diverted the aircraft to the route where the crash occurred.
. The debate touched upon points such as the probability of sabotage because the preparation for building a new nuclear reactor in Turkey had just begun.
Atlasjet
Atlasjet Havacılık A.Ş. is an airline based in Florya, Bakırköy district, Istanbul, Turkey, operating domestic and international scheduled passenger services and regular charter flights to Europe, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates, usually out of either Atatürk International Airport,...
Flight 4203 was a scheduled flight from Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
's Atatürk International Airport
Atatürk International Airport
Atatürk International Airport is the major international airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Opened in 1924 and located in Yeşilköy, on the European side of the city, it is west of the city centre. In 1980, the airport was renamed to Atatürk International Airport in honor of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the...
to Isparta Süleyman Demirel Airport
Isparta Süleyman Demirel Airport
Isparta Süleyman Demirel Airport , inaugurated on July 21, 1997, is an airport serving the city of Isparta in south-western Turkey. Located in the Keçiborlu district, it is 28 km far from the city. The airport is named after the 9th President of Turkey, Süleyman Demirel, who is a native of Isparta...
in Isparta
Isparta
Isparta is a city in western Turkey and the provincial capital of the Isparta Province. The city's population is 222,556 and elevation from sea level is 1035 m. Another name of the city is "City of Roses"....
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. On November 30, 2007 it crashed outside the town of Keçiborlu
Keçiborlu
Keçiborlu is a town and district of Isparta Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. The town had 7,049 inhabitants according to 2010 census....
, 18 km (11 mi) from Isparta at around 01:36 EET
Eastern European Time
Eastern European Time is one of the names of UTC+02:00 time zone, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in some European countries that also use Eastern European Summer Time as a summer daylight saving time.- Usage :...
(23:36 UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
on November 29). The flight took off from Istanbul at 00:50 EET with 57 people on board, including a six-week old baby which had not been counted on departure from the airport. Atlasjet Airline's CEO Tuncay Doganer reported that no one had survived the crash.
The plane was a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 which Atlasjet leased from World Focus Airlines, whose pilots were flying it when it crashed.
Crash site
Local officials said the plane had broken into two pieces, with its fuselage and rear landing in different places. The Anadolu AgencyAnadolu Agency
Anadolu Agency is the Turkish state news agency commissioned with producing news releases pertaining to the country.The agency was set up on April 6, 1920 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk during the Turkish War of Independence, and is the biggest news agency of Turkey....
news service said the plane's wings and engine were at the top of a hill while the fuselage was 150 m (500 ft) lower. A local reporter at the scene described luggage and debris strewn across a large area, which police have cordoned off. It was reported that the plane crashed away from the typical flight path. Officials are confused as to how the plane ended up there.
Investigation
Investigators found the two black boxesBlack Box (transportation)
The term black box is a placeholder name used casually to refer to a collection of several different recording devices used in transportation: the flight recorders in aircraft, the event recorder in railway locomotives, the event data recorder in automobiles, message case in ships, and other...
(the flight data recorder
Flight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
and the cockpit voice recorder
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
) during the afternoon of the day of the crash. Weather conditions were good at the time of the flight, with a visibility of 12 kilometres (7.5 mi), and the aircraft had no known technical issues. The pilots were experienced and had just come out of a routine training session a few days before the accident, as reported by the Anatolian News Agency. Speculation on the quality of technical attention the aircraft received by World Focus Airlines received major attention by the Turkish media.
Upon investigation of the black box of the aircraft in Lufthansa laboratories, the cockpit voice recorder device was found to have been inoperative for the 9 days leading up to the accident, in contravention of regulations which specify that it must be made operable within 72 hours of the fault being discovered. In addition, the flight data recorder was not working properly and only contained 15 minutes of flight data. Analyzing the available data from the flight data recorder, the authorities declared that the accident was caused by pilot error as a result of the condition known as spatial disorientation
Spatial disorientation
Spatial disorientation is the inability to correctly interpret aircraft attitude, altitude or airspeed, in relation to the Earth or point of reference. Spatial disorientation is a condition in which an aircraft pilot's perception of direction does not agree with reality...
. The pilot is believed to have lost the sight of line for the horizon and instead of trusting the flight instruments
Flight instruments
Flight instruments are the instruments in the cockpit of an aircraft that provide the pilot with information about the flight situation of that aircraft, such as height, speed and altitude...
, diverted the aircraft to the route where the crash occurred.
Controversy
Shortly after the crash, an important amount of controversy raised about the death of 6 important nuclear physicists who were working on a project of CERNCERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
. The debate touched upon points such as the probability of sabotage because the preparation for building a new nuclear reactor in Turkey had just begun.
Passengers
- Engin ArıkEngin ArikEngin Arık was a renowned Turkish particle physicist. She was a professor and head of the Experimental High Energy Physics group at the Boğaziçi University....
, a nuclear physicist, died on the plane, along with five other academics on their way to a physics conference in Isparta.