Heavy fog being blamed for causing airliner to miss runway

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey -- Moments after the Turkish Airlines plane crashed on landing and split apart, a screaming, burning Aliye Il unbuckled her seat belt and fell upside-down into a soft pile of grass.

Il then grabbed some grass and beat herself with it to extinguish her burning hair and clothes.

"I think it was a miracle," the 48-year-old mother of four told The Associated Press on Thursday from her hospital bed.

Il was among five survivors of Wednesday's crash that killed 75 people -- including four Britons, an unidentified American and a Finnish national -- in Turkey's worst air disaster in 25 years.

"It's a miracle five people came out alive," Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said while visiting victims' families. "The plane was torn apart."

The pilot of the British Aerospace RJ-100 missed the runway because of heavy fog, officials said. The airport in southeastern Turkey, which is owned by the military, lacks an Instrument Landing System, or ILS, to help during times of low visibility.

Airport facilities lacking

Gul suggested better technology might have prevented the crash and said Turkey must consider providing all airports with equipment to assist landings in bad weather. "Perhaps some of our airports are in need of equipment that is more advanced," Gul said.

On Thursday, distraught relatives, some covering their mouths and noses with tissues, gathered in a gymnasium serving as a morgue. They hunched over bodies -- many burned beyond recognition -- and tried to identify loved ones by jewelry or teeth.

"How can I find him? The bodies are burned like coal," said Sukru, whose brother-in-law, Selcuk Sungunapsan, was believed among the dead. Sukru refused to give his last name.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman confirmed an American was killed but said he was not able to release the victim's name or hometown.

Some relatives were outraged that the pilot tried to land at an airport lacking an ILS.

"We live in a country where human life is so cheap," said Selami Ozturk, whose nephew was killed.

Turkish newspapers said the military opposed the ILS for unspecified security reasons.

Military officials were not immediately available for comment.

Heavy fog also factored into another fatal accident Thursday. Two military F-4 warplanes collided in nearby Malatya province during training exercises, killing four crew members, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Wednesday's flight from Istanbul to this overwhelmingly Kurdish city missed a runway and crashed into a field, with the fuselage breaking into three flaming pieces. Luggage was scattered across 800 yards.

Il, one of the survivors, was in the front of one broken section.

"The plane was torn to pieces," she said. "All the seats were upside down. Our faces were facing the floor.

"I was trying to unfasten my belt. I was screaming, 'I can't unbuckle it! I can't unbuckle it!,' but nobody could hear me. They were all screaming."

Il finally unfastened her belt and, moments later, "there were explosions ... and everyone was turned into balls of fire," she said.

Il's short reddish-brown hair and her eyebrows appeared singed, and she had bruises on her left eye and a broken shoulder. An intravenous tube was in her left arm.

Il said she walked from the crash site in a daze until a soldier found her and carried her on his back to safety.

"It was a nightmare," she said. "I try not to think about it."