Turkish Airlines Official Press Statement

Istanbul, Turkey (March 02, 2009) /ChinaNewswire.com/ — We would like to express our deep sorrow for the loss of life of our crew members and our passengers as a result of the accident incurred during landing of our B-737-800 type aircraft on her Istanbul - Amsterdam flight.

We are grateful to all our friends who stand by us and who share our deep sadness in this incident.

We further wish to present our thanks both to you and to your institution due to your reporting this undoubtedly traumatic and shocking event to your readers and watchers through an objective news reporting approach.

We are going to share with you all data and information we obtain as and when the findings related to the accident become clearer and are evaluated by the technical experts.

However, in the meantime, for the sake of protection of reputation of Turkish Airlines and of maintenance of trust in the aviation sector in general, we hereby would like to inform you about not only the directly flight-related organizational units of Turkish Airlines such as fleet, training and aircraft maintenance, but also its technologic power and strength, operational approaches and principles.

It is our sincere belief that your reporting such factual information to public will be helpful in preventing the probable negative effects of this accident not only to Turkish Airlines, but also to the whole aviation sector and accordingly to many other related sectors including but not limited to aircraft industry, transportation and tourism.

By taking this opportunity, we wish to present our respects and regards to you.

Turkish Airlines is currently flying to 145 destinations all over the world, including 110 international destinations, with its fleet of 129 aircrafts.

Turkish Airlines has, as a product of its advancements and breakthroughs of the recent years, been rated and classified as the "most rapidly growing airline company of Europe", and what's more, in the assessments of Skytrax, a recognized authority of civil aviation, has been upgraded to a 4-star airline company position due to comfort and services supplied to its passengers. Furthermore, Turkish Airlines is a part of collaborations and cooperation through "codeshare" flights with a great number of airline companies from various countries of the world.

Fleet:

Turkish Airlines owns a substantially superior fleet in terms of technologic equipment and reliability with its 129 new generation aircrafts. With its "Aircraft Fleet Average Age" of around 6, Turkish Airlines is the owner of one of the youngest aircraft fleets of both Europe and the world.

It must be emphasized that Turkish Airlines is qualified as an IOSA Operator after the IATA Operational Safety Audit as of April 07, 2006. In addition to the IOSA audit, due to its vast operation network, THY is in active contact with numerous Civil Aviation Authorities and subject to their audits as well as the audits of codeshared airlines. These audits, as well as providing the opportunity to the auditors to evaluate the current situation, input the required feedback for THY's safer operation from thereupon.

This assessment is a clear proof of the compliance of all of our domestic and international flights with the international civil aviation rules and flight safety standards.

Maintenance / Repairs:

Maintenance and repair procedures of our aircrafts are conducted by Turkish Technic, an affiliate of Turkish Airlines, in strict compliance with the current rules and criteria of international civil aviation authorities. Holding all authorization certificates, Turkish Technic is one of the greatest maintenance bases of the Middle East and Europe, and offers maintenance / repair services not only to Turkish Airlines, but also to many other respectful airline companies of the region and of Europe.

Pilot Training:

As the pilots are the most important actors of flight safety and comfort, pilot training is one of the most sensitive issues on the part of Turkish Airlines. Having reached the "Flight Academy" level with license education and training started in the engineering disciplines in 2006, the Aviation Academy meets the training requirements and demands of both Turkish Airlines and other airline companies. The Academy is manned by a staff of trainers and experts of fairly advanced level in terms of knowledge and experience, and is equipped by a high technology infrastructure.

RJ100/70, B737-400 and B737-800 simulators are used in the cockpit training of pilots, while A340 first class cabin servicer (mock-up), B737 Economy Class cabin servicer (mock-up) and B737/A310/A430 mobile emergency evacuation simulator and one A310 overwing exit training car (mock-up) are used in the cabin training center.

Turkish Airlines pilots are further given CAT II and CAT III trainings which enable them to land and take off in inconvenient negative weather conditions, or to put it differently, under low visibility and low cloud ceiling heights conditions.

The Cockpit Training program for Pilots and Co-pilots further contains training for critical and worst case scenarios through theoretical, computer-based and simulator trainings. Through these trainings creating 99% reality feeling, the cockpit crew find the opportunity to develop their operational skills by gaining invaluable experience.