Published: Sunday, March 8, 2009
737 crash survivors gather for memorial
The Dutch Queen Beatrix attends the nationally televised service.
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Marcel Antonisse / Associated Press
Survivors of the Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 that slammed into a muddy field near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, comfort each other on Saturday. Dozens of survivors joined rescue workers and politicians for a nationally televised service.
AMSTERDAM -- Diplomats and officials placed nine cream-colored roses in a vase in an aircraft hangar Saturday to commemorate those killed in the crash of a Turkish Airlines jet near Amsterdam last month.
Planes and trains stopped operations for two minutes during the ceremony at Schiphol Airport to pay tribute to the victims of the Feb. 25 crash.
Survivors -- some still recovering from their injuries -- and family of the victims watched in silence as Turkish and American diplomats, politicians and a representative of Dutch Queen Beatrix placed the roses in a vase -- one for each of the five Turks and four Americans killed. The ceremony was televised nationally.
The dead in the crash of flight TK1951 included the plane's Turkish pilots and three Boeing employees, including Ricky Wilson of Clinton. Boeing employees from the Puget Sound region -- Ronald Richey of Duvall, and John Salman of Kent -- also died in the crash.
"Today we remember the victims. We express our sympathy to family and friends. Our thoughts also go out to the people in hospital fighting to recover," said Dutch Interior Minister Guusje ter Horst. "It's also a time to be grateful for the fact that so many survived."
Dutch investigators say the plane crashed because a false reading from a faulty altimeter caused an autopilot to sharply slow the Boeing 737-800, short of the runway.
The plane was carrying 135 people and dozens managed to scramble out of the wreckage even though the impact cracked the plane's fuselage into three pieces.
One survivor remains in critical condition and 23 more are still recovering in hospital.
After the service, family members were to lay flowers at the site of the crash, where the wreckage was still lying in a field close to a busy highway less than a mile short of the runway.
U.S. diplomat Michael Gallagher spoke of the sorrow of the relatives of the American victims.
"They were people returning from Turkey to their homes in Seattle and Houston," he said. "Their families were waiting for them to return only to learn the devastating news that they had already bid them their last farewell."
Planes and trains stopped operations for two minutes during the ceremony at Schiphol Airport to pay tribute to the victims of the Feb. 25 crash.
Survivors -- some still recovering from their injuries -- and family of the victims watched in silence as Turkish and American diplomats, politicians and a representative of Dutch Queen Beatrix placed the roses in a vase -- one for each of the five Turks and four Americans killed. The ceremony was televised nationally.
The dead in the crash of flight TK1951 included the plane's Turkish pilots and three Boeing employees, including Ricky Wilson of Clinton. Boeing employees from the Puget Sound region -- Ronald Richey of Duvall, and John Salman of Kent -- also died in the crash.
"Today we remember the victims. We express our sympathy to family and friends. Our thoughts also go out to the people in hospital fighting to recover," said Dutch Interior Minister Guusje ter Horst. "It's also a time to be grateful for the fact that so many survived."
Dutch investigators say the plane crashed because a false reading from a faulty altimeter caused an autopilot to sharply slow the Boeing 737-800, short of the runway.
The plane was carrying 135 people and dozens managed to scramble out of the wreckage even though the impact cracked the plane's fuselage into three pieces.
One survivor remains in critical condition and 23 more are still recovering in hospital.
After the service, family members were to lay flowers at the site of the crash, where the wreckage was still lying in a field close to a busy highway less than a mile short of the runway.
U.S. diplomat Michael Gallagher spoke of the sorrow of the relatives of the American victims.
"They were people returning from Turkey to their homes in Seattle and Houston," he said. "Their families were waiting for them to return only to learn the devastating news that they had already bid them their last farewell."
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