=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/01/09/i= nternational0308EST0440.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, January 9, 2003 (AP) Turkish jetliner crashes in fog, 75 killed SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press Writer (01-09) 03:38 PST DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AP) -- Families on Thursday began identifying the remains of 75 people killed after a Turkish Airlines jetliner crashed short of a fog-covered runway in southeastern Turkey. Five survivors aboard the flight from Istanbul were hospitalized after t= he plane came down Wednesday at the airport in Diyarbakir. Four Britons were killed in the crash, the British Embassy said. A U.S. citizen was aboard the flight, U.S. officials said, but it was unclear whether the American was among the survivors. Prime Minister Abdullah Gul dismissed the possibility of a terror attack and said the weather was likely to blame. Fog had been a problem in the area in recent days and forced the cancellation of flights to the southeastern cities of Gaziantep and Sanliurfa from Istanbul Thursday. Two Turkish warplanes also collided in heavy fog in nearby Malatya province on Thursday, the military said. The pilots and navigators of the two F-4 jets were seen parachuting to the ground, but none of the four aviators survived. Turkish newspapers reported that Diyarbakir airport lacked an instrument landing system, a radio device that helps pilots land when there is low visibility. Newspapers said Turkey's military, which owns the airport, opposed the system for unspecified security reasons. Military and Turkish Airlines officials were not immediately available for comment. "Measures will be taken so that an event like this won't happen again," Prime Minister Gul said, but he did not elaborate. Investigators have recovered both the flight data recorder and the cockp= it voice recorder, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said. The crash left an 800-yard swath of twisted metal and scattered luggage. The shape of the aircraft was barely discernible in the wreckage. Families tried to identify the badly charred remains of passengers laid out at a nearby basketball court. Relatives waited outside several morgues in freezing temperatures and bickered with officials overnight to claim their loved ones. Officials said around 30 bodies had been released to families. "We had hoped for more injured, so we could help them return to life. But only three people were sent to us," said Aziz Aydinalt, chief physician at a Diyarbakir hospital, adding that two others were sent to a military hospital. Three small children were believed to be among the dead. About 400 soldiers combed the area near the crash site for other survivo= rs who might have been thrown from the plane. But at about midnight, they called off their search. One of the survivors, Aliye Il, a 48-year-old housewife, said she was flying to Diyarbakir to attend a friend's funeral. She said that after the crash, she was able to free herself from the wreckage and fell into a pile of cut grass near the runway. Il suffered a broken shoulder. The others were in stable condition and suffered trauma and broken bones. At least one American was on the flight, said U.S. State Department spokesman Lou Fintor. An official at the British embassy said four Britons were among the dead, but said she could not provide information on their identities until family members were contacted. The British Aerospace RJ-100 crashed 30-40 yards from the runway, Interi= or Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said. The RJ-100, a four-engine jet, is commonly used for domestic flights in Turkey. There were no reports of any people injured on the ground. One man was undergoing chest surgery and was in serious condition. Diyarbakir is some 850 miles southeast of Istanbul and 75 miles north of the Syrian border. It was the worst crash since September 1976, when a Turkish Airlines Boeing 727 crashed near Isparta in southern Turkey, killing 155 people. Almost half of the casualties were Italian vacationers. In November, a Russian plane carrying 28 people crashed near an airport = in the Turkish Mediterranean resort of Antalya after clipping a power line. No one was killed. In May 2001, a military transport plane crashed in southeastern Turkey, killing 34 officers and soldiers from Turkey's elite special forces. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP