Turkish airliner crashes at AMS

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AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Turkish Airlines passenger plane with 135 people aboard crashed in light fog while trying to land at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Wednesday, and an official said nine people were killed.

Haarlemmermeer acting Mayor Michel Bezuijen said at least 50 people were injured, including 25 severely hurt, when flight TK 1951 crashed at 10:31 local time (0931 GMT) short of a runway at Schiphol, Europe's fifth-largest by passenger volume.

"We cannot say anything about the cause at the moment. The priority of the authorities is providing help and care," Bezuijen told reporters.

Dutch television showed what appeared to be covered bodies on the ground near the crumpled, single-aisle Boeing 737.

At least four Americans, who work for the plane's manufacturer Boeing, were on the plane, one official said.

The jetliner lay in three parts, with the tail section of the fuselage ripped off, and a wide crack in the fuselage just behind the cockpit. The airliner had not caught fire.

 

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The front and rear sections apparently took the brunt of the crash force. The two pilots were killed, along with an "apprentice pilot' (jumpseater?).
The passengers who died were all supposedly in the rear section.

 

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Altimeter 'had role' in air crash

At a news conference in The Hague, Mr Van Vollenhoven said the plane had been at an altitude of 595m (1950ft) when making its landing approach to Schiphol airport, although the altimeter recorded an altitude of around ground level.

The plane was on autopilot and its systems believed the plane was already touching down, he said.

The automatic throttle controlling the two engines was closed and they powered down. This led to the plane losing speed, and stalling