TK 1951
25 Feb 2009 · System & Design MalfunctionTURKISH AIRLINES FLIGHT 1951
Boeing 737-800 · Turkish Airlines · Image: Wikimedia Commons
Why it happened
Faulty radio altimeter idled the engines
Radio altimeter
Autothrottle
Stall recovery
Aircraft
Boeing 737-800
Turkish Airlines
Route
Istanbul–Atatürk (IST), Türkiye
→ Amsterdam–Schiphol (AMS), Netherlands
People
135 on board
9 fatalities
Date
25 Feb 2009
Flight crew
Captain: Hasan Tahsan Arisan
Category
System & Design Malfunction
When software, sensors and design turn on the crew.
THE STORY
A broken radio altimeter read -8 ft while the jet was still at 1,950 ft, so the autothrottle idled the engines. The 737 stalled into a field short of Schiphol.