Plane malfunctioned days before crash

Safety experts yesterday hailed the "miracle" that limited the death toll in the Turkish Airlines jet crash in Amsterdam, amid reports that the plane malfunctioned days before the accident.

"It is a real wreck," Fred Sanders, a spokesman for the Dutch Safety Board said. "That so many people were able to walk out was truly remarkable. Some have called it a miracle."

Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim has also described the death toll of nine as a "miracle".

As dozens of investigators pored over the wreckage to pinpoint the cause of the crash, Turkish Airlines said yesterday the jet had undergone repairs for a malfunction two days before the accident.

The Boeing 737-800 jet was taken out of operation on February 23 after the pilot reported a problem with the Master Caution Light - a system that monitors all critical systems - while taxiing to the runway to take off for Madrid, the carrier said in a statement.

The plane was given the clear to fly the same day after the part was replaced.

Two days later it crashed in a muddy field short of the runway as it tried to land at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport after taking off from Istanbul with 127 passengers and seven crew.

Three Turkish crew members were among the dead.

Officials said 63 people remained hospitalised yesterday. Six were critical, four of whom had yet to be identified along with the other six dead.

Haarlemmermeer mayor Theo Weterings announced that those on board the plane included 53 Dutch and 51 Turkish citizens, a German, seven Americans, three Britons, one Bulgarian, a Finnish citizen, an Italian and a Taiwanese.

The nationalities of 15 had yet to be determined.

The Finnish foreign ministry however said the Finn, whose travel documents were found at the crash site, had not been on the plane and had since then been contacted.