Turkish Airlines flight TK3979 to Antalya suffered a significant problem to the aircraft, resulting in a u-turn back to Moscow.
Information has been released pertinent to this incident, which we will get into in this article.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Turkish Airlines Flight TK3979 – Moscow to Antalya…
Turkish Airlines flight TK3979, which suffered the control issue, is a routine scheduled flight between Moscow and Antalya.
Also, the aircraft involved in the incident is TC-JGU.
As per data from Planespotters.net, TC-JGU is a 17.9 year old Boeing 737-800 that was first delivered to the airline in August 2006.
However in January 2021, it was transferred to AnadoluJet, which is now known as A Jet.
The aircraft was operating the flight for Turkish Airlines via a wet-leasing arrangement.
Of the 737-800 variant, A Jet have 45 of them in their fleet, of which all but two are in active service.
Furthermore, they also have an average fleet age of 18.6 years.
As well as the 737-800 variant, A Jet have the following other aircraft in their fleet:
- 10 737 MAX 8s.
- 19 Airbus A321 Family aircraft.
- 10 Airbus A320 Family aircraft.
Turkish Airlines flight TK3979 departed Moscow on June 23 and proceeded to climb out towards Antalya.
As per The Aviation Herald, it is understood the issue began whilst the aircraft was climbing to cruise.
It is understood that when climbing through FL260, the aircraft had issues with their stabilizer trim, which also resulted in the crew not being able to use their autothrottle or autopilot.
From there, the aircraft made a u-turn back to Moscow, with no intention of continuing on to Antalya.
Moreover, they burned off fuel via some holds and landed safely back into the Russian airport over two hours after departure.
Aircraft Fixed Quickly…
Data from RadarBox shows that the aircraft was fixed pretty quickly following the incident onboard Turkish Airlines flight TK3979 Moscow-Antalya.
The aircraft remained on the ground for around two and a half hours before departing again from the Russian airport at 0204 local time on June 24.
TK3979 continued on to Antalya, where it landed without further incident at 0606 local time in the morning.
Since then, the aircraft has remained in commercial service where it has operated flights to the following destinations:
- St. Petersburg
- Moscow
- Chisinau
Since then, no additional incidents have been reported, bringing this issue to an overall close for the time being.
Click the banner to subscribe to our weekly Emergencies and Incidents newsletter.
Click the photo to join our WhatsApp channel so then you can stay up to date with everything going on in the aviation industry!
