Turkish aircraft technician dies after his head caught between flaps

ISTANBUL

Tuğrul Tuna Beken, 36, has been working at THY Teknik since January 2011.

A Turkish aircraft maintenance technician has died in an accident at an Istanbul airport when his head was caught between the flaps of a Boeing 777-300ER.

"Our authorized technician Tuğrul Tuna Beken has lost his life this morning due to a sad accident during the tests on the flight control surfaces [of the aircraft]," the Turkish Airlines (THY) said in a statement on May 16.

When the accident happened, the 36-year-old technician was checking the aircraft's flaps, the devices used to alter the lift characteristics of a wing and are mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed, according to Doğan News Agency.


His colleagues heard when Beken shouted for help after his head was stuck in the flaps of the aircraft named "Yıldız" (Star), but he could not survive his injuries although he was immediately hospitalized.

Beken has been working at THY Teknik since January 2011.