1959 Turkish Airlines Gatwick Crash - Flight

Flight

Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, accompanied by a Turkish delegation, was on his way to the British capital to sign the London Agreement on the Cyprus issue with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Greek Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis, which gave the three sides the right to intervene in Cyprus in case peace was broken by any of the parties.

The special flight departed from Ankara Esenboğa International Airport bound for London Heathrow Airport via Istanbul Atatürk International Airport (IATA: IST, ICAO: LTBA) and Rome Leonardo da Vinci Airport (IATA: FCO, ICAO: LIRF). The aircraft left its last stopover, Rome, at 13:02 hrs and called London Airways at 15:56 hrs over Abbeville, just before leaving French airspace. TC-SEV was cleared by air traffic control to the Epsom Radio Range station, the holding fix for London Airport. Over Epsom range at 16:21 hrs, the Turkish Airlines captain was instructed by the London Airport Commandant to divert to Gatwick due to poor visibility at Heathrow.

Istanbul Atatürk Int'l Airport Rom Leonardo da Vinci Airport London Gatwick Airport Location of airports on the flight route

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