Plane crash in turkey kills 56

ISPARTA, Turkey, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- An AtlasJet Airlines plane traveling from the Turkish capital, Istanbul, to Isparta, Turkey, has crashed, killing all 56 people on board.

The crash, which killed 49 passengers and seven crew aboard the flight, occurred outside the town of Keciborlu, which is near Suleyman Demirel airport in Isparta, Today's Zaman reported Friday.

"The aircraft's black box should explain what happened," AtlasJet Airlines Chief Executive Tuncay Doganer said. "The pilot saw the airport and informed the tower that it was inbound. The plane then disappeared."

Doganer said the crash "had nothing to do with a technical fault."

The official told The New Anatolian that "there was no technical difficulty in our airplane. Our pilots had just come from training and were extremely experienced."

CNN reported that Doganer said weather is also not a likely suspect in the crash.

"There was no rain or wind," he said. "The weather could not have been better."

Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım told Today's Zaman that human error is a likely culprit in the crash.

"No matter what measures you take, plane accidents happen and we see that 80 to 85 percent are due to human error," Yıldırım said.