Exactly 10 years ago, Turkish Airlines flight TK1951 crashed during landing at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

On 25 February 2009 – exactly 10 years ago –, Turkish Airlines flight TK1951 crashed during landing at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, resulting in the death of nine passengers and crew, including all three pilots, who died on impact.

The aircraft, a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800, crashed into a field approximately 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) north of the Polderbaan runway, (18R), prior to crossing the A9 motorway inbound, at 09:26 UTC (10:26 CET), having flown from Istanbul, Turkey. The aircraft broke into three pieces on impact. The wreckage did not catch fire.

The crash was caused primarily by the aircraft’s automated reaction, which was triggered by a faulty radio altimeter. This caused the auto-throttle to decrease the engine power to idle during approach. The crew noticed this too late to take appropriate action to increase the thrust and recover the aircraft before it stalled and crashed. Boeing has since issued a bulletin to remind pilots of all 737 series and BBJ aircraft of the importance of monitoring airspeed and altitude, advising against the use of autopilot or auto-throttle while landing in cases of radio altimeter discrepancies.

Air Traffic Control communication with Turkish Airlines Flight 1951
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Source: Wikipedia Turkish Airlines Flight 1951