Date & Time: Apr 7, 1999 at 0045 LT
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 737-400
Operator:
Registration:
TC-JEP
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Positioning
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Adana - Jeddah
MSN:
25378
YOM:
1995
Flight number:
TK5904
Location:
Ceyhan
Mediterranean Region (Akdeniz Bölgesi)
Country:
Turkey
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
6
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
6
Aircraft flight hours:
11600
Aircraft flight cycles:
6360
Circumstances:
The aircraft departed Adana Airport runway 05 at 0036LT on a positioning flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to pick up Turkish pilgrims. Nine minutes after takeoff, while climbing to an altitude of 4,000 metres in poor weather conditions, the aircraft nosed down, entered a dive and crashed in a near vertical attitude in an open field located near Ceyhan, about 30 km east of Adana Airport. The aircraft disintegrated on impact, causing a large crater. Debris were found at a depth of 10 metres. The accident was not survivable.
Probable cause:
The following findings were identified:
- The severe weather conditions probably contributed to the cause of the accident,
- The Pitot static anti-ice system was probably not activated during preparations for flight because the crew failed to follow the pre takeoff checklist,
- The crew failed to recognize the cause of an erratic airspeed indication,
- The crew failed to use other cockpit indications for control and recovery of the airplane,
- The presence of cabin crew in the cockpit probably distracted the attention of the cockpit crew.