Turkish Airlines Flight 345

Turkish Airlines Flight 345 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by a Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship from İzmir Cumaovası Airport to Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport that crashed into the Sea of Marmara on 30 January 1975 during approach. It was the second worst accident involving a Fokker F28 and third deadliest aviation accident in Turkey at that time.

Coincidentally, the worst accident involving a Fokker F28 was when a sister ship to this aircraft, operating Turkish Airlines Flight 301, crashed almost exactly one year earlier, in January 1974.

Background

The aircraft operating Flight 345 was a Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship, registered as TC-JAP, which made its first flight in 1972. Since then, it had accumulated 3713 flying hours in 5062 flight cycles. Flight 345 took off from İzmir Cumaovası Airport at around 18:00 EET (20:00 UTC) for a 40-minute flight to Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport with 38 passengers and 4 crew members on board.

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 moment forced the crew to initiate a missed approach. Twenty-two seconds after the failure, the emergency generator restored the runway lights. The pilot elected to remain VFR at an altitude of under 240 m. At 18:43, the crew asked for permission to land while positioning for another approach. Because another aircraft was about to take off, air traffic control ordered 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 response.

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