Turkish Airlines Flight 345

Turkish Airlines Flight 345

File:Alp doplhinflyer.jpg TC-JAP, the aircraft involved in the accident, photographed on 1 January 1975.
Accident summary
Date	30 January 1975
Summary	Impacted Sea of Marmara during go-around
Site	Sea of Marmara, Turkey
Passengers	38
Crew	4
Fatalities	42 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship
Aircraft name	Bursa
Operator	Turkish Airlines
Registration	TC-JAP
Flight origin	Izmir Cumaovası Airport, Turkey
Destination	Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport, Turkey

Turkish Airlines Flight 345 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by a Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship from Izmir Cumaovası Airport to Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport that crashed into the Sea of Marmara on 30 January 1975 during the approach to its destination.

It was the second worst accident involving a Fokker F28 and third deadliest aviation accident in Turkey at that time.

Background

The aircraft operating flight 345 was a Fokker F28 Fellowship 1000 powered by two Rolls-Royce RB183-2 "Spey" Mk555-15 turbofan jet engines. It was built by Fokker with manufacturer serial number 11058 and made its first flight in 1972. Since then, it accumulated 3713 flying hours in 5062 cycles. With 38 passengers and 4 crew members on board, flight 345 took off from Izmir Cumaovası Airport at 18:00 local time for a 40-minute flight to Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport.

Accident

At 18:39, the aircraft touched down on the runway at Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport but an electrical power failure at the airport at that very moment forced the crew to initiate a missed approach. Twenty-two seconds after the lights went off, the emergency generator jumped in and restored the runway lights. The pilot elected to remain VFR under a variable ceiling of 240 m (790 ft). At 18:43, the crew asked for permission to land while positioning for another approach. However, because another aircraft, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 747, was about to take off, air traffic control ordered the crew of flight 345 to fly an extended downwind leg. When, at 18:53, air traffic control attempted to establish contact with flight 345, it received no answer.

It was determined that the aircraft crashed into the Sea of Marmara. However, the wreckage could not be located until several years later.

Recovery

The relatives of the victims continuously demanded without success the recovery of the wreckage and the bodies of the victims from the sea floor. A 3 m (9.8 ft) by 3 m (9.8 ft) 200 kg (440 lb) portion from the rear fuselage with five window frames was recovered on March 17, 2009 by shrimp trawling fishermen off the Avcılar-Florya coast. The finding was handed over to Turkish Airlines after inspection by Stuart Kline, an American historian of aviation living in Turkey.