Turkish Airlines Airbus A330-343 registred TC-LOL, was performing flight TK627 from IST to Port Harcourt when the PIC landed the aircraft next to the runway due to confusion of the runway lights. (simpleflying.com) さらに...
not to point out the obvious, but the aircraft reg appears to be apropos in this instance. (in the words,texts of my 13 year old...LOL's) Luckily no one was injured,so there is THAT going for this 'Benny Hill Show' class of incident. What are the odds of the left seat jockey getting a second gig as PIC? Oy. (cue "Yakety Sax")
Please define 1st World, "Second world and I am guessing thatthe rest are "Third world". Which nations (or airlines) meet your criteria for each category.
Turkey is quite a mixed bag in terms of 1st world/3rd world benchmarks, but I think it's closer to 1st world than 3rd. I have no knowledge of the quality of the airline in question.
I flew on Turkish Air only but once, and it was one time too many. While I agree US carriers suck, I can at least breathe on board. That Turkish flight was on a 737 from IST to ADA, not terribly long but the stench on that plane was awful. Not sure if this was a one time type of thing, but I don’t feel the need to try again!
It’s possible that you had a bad experience, but when KLM decided to cancel the first leg of my flight home to Montreal from Nairobi I was re-routed via Istanbul on Turkish Airways. My experience was good, older A330 both flights, but clean and spacious, excellent food and well trained cabin personnel. It was right up with the best European airlines.
As Turkish Airlines is flying just about anywhere with, according to their website, the most international destinations of any airline, I would not hesitate to choose them if they go where I need to go.
I’m glad your experience was good. I’ll admit, apart from having to breathe, the rest of the flight was fine. This was also in 2008 on a domestic flight,
I can’t say anything about Turkish Airlines domestic flights, I’ve never experienced any. As for the cigarette smell, maybe it was one of their older aircraft with the stench deeply ingrained in all the seats and plastic parts.
"While I agree US carriers suck" Really? Try Delta One and you won't fly any other sh*tty European airline again! Personally U.S. Carriers are far ahead of them, specifically within the last 5 years. I don't know why the stigma is always to bash anything U.S. related, I consider them on the higher end, unless you're flying Singapore or some Government funded Middle Eastern Airline.
Flying Turk in the 90's it was always an interesting trip. Between doors flying off and the thick thick cigarette smoke in the cabin it wasn't my preferred air line.
I’ve heard about the «old » Turkish Airline, but they spent a good amount on aircraft and generally improving their stuff. They are quite agressive in capturing a big chunk of trafic between Europe, Africa and the Far East, counting on the central location of Istanbul to do so. Hence the brand new giant airport to the north, taking over from Atatürk airport. In 25 years things change, some for the better and some for worse.
I prefer Delta Airlines over any international airline, especially Europoor Airlines. Sh*tty government funded airlines. And you wonder why they're all going bankrupt.
No, but after 18,000 in domestic and international ops I can hit the centerline of a runway ... as any student pilot should. BTW...if you are confused about the situation, in this case, rwy lights, you should “go around”
Mr. Perfect strikes again. Your lack of consideration for a crew that was operating a flight during their circadian low and landing at an airport known for an unreliable infrastructure and really crappy lighting says more about you than anything else. please don't operate any flights with me in the back.
Spare us your ill-informed condescension. It doesn't matter if this was a US carrier, an African carrier, or the Vatican air force. It doesn't matter if the pilot was from the Netherlands, Swaziland, or the moon. This was incompetence, pure and simple. Like Steamjet, I have flown in the cockpit for thousands of hours, landing everywhere from state of the art airports to bush strips. It is not, repeat NOT difficult to distinguish runway lights from taxiway and boundary lights, even in category III conditions. Rationalizations about circadian rhythms and "unreliable infrastructure" are clever buzzwords for you to toss around but they do not excuse poor performance when hundreds of lives and millions of dollars are on the line. I'd suggest that you not talk the talk until you have walked the walk.
Always, I mean ALWAYS blame an inanimate object your any failures in life. Sure works dandy for so many others I know, in so many other aspects of life.