Turkish Airlines Flight 345

The aircraft operating Flight 345 was a Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship with manufacturer serial number 11058, and made its first flight in 1972. Since then, it had accumulated 3713 flying hours in 5062 flight cycles. Flight 345 took off from Izmir 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.[1][2]

At 18:39, the aircraft touched down on the runway at Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport but an electrical power failure at the airport at that very moment forced the crew to initiate a missed approach. Twenty-two seconds after the lights went off, the emergency generator jumped in and restored the runway lights. The pilot elected to remain VFR under an altitude of 240 metres (790 ft). At 18:43, the crew asked for permission to land while positioning for another approach. However, because another aircraft was about to take off, air traffic control ordered the crew of 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 answer.[1]

It was determined that the aircraft crashed into the Sea of Marmara. However, the wreckage was not located until several years later.[3]

The relatives of the victims continuously demanded, without success, the recovery of the wreckage and the bodies of the victims from the sea floor.[3] A 3 m (9.8 ft) by 3 m (9.8 ft) 200 kg (440 lb) portion from the rear fuselage with five window frames was recovered on March 17, 2009 by shrimp trawling fishermen off the Avcılar-Florya coast. The wreckage was handed over to Turkish Airlines after inspection by Stuart Kline, an American historian of aviation living in Turkey.[4][5]