Turkish Airlines chief urges pilots to marry after Germanwings tragedy

Claims the Germanwings tragedy happened after the pilot's girlfriend left him

ISTANBUL: The general manager of Turkish Airlines has urged single pilots to marry, after the Germanwings tragedy blamed on a pilot with psychological problems.

The tragedy last month "taught us new things and piloting is a very critical task. The lifestyle of pilots -- be they men or women -- is very important," Temel Kotil was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet daily.

"The accident happened after the pilot's girlfriend left him. So my dear friends, take into account that we advise our single pilots to get married," he added.

Read: Germanwings crash probe turns on co-pilot's 'depression'

Initial reports suggested the Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had broken up with his girlfriend, but this was later called into question.

Lubitz, who had been diagnosed as suicidal in the past, is believed to have intentionally flown the plane into the mountainside after locking the pilot out of the cockpit.

All 150 people on board were killed when the plane smashed into the French Alps.

Read: Germanwings plane with 148 on board crashes in French Alps

Kotil, whose airline is one the fastest growing carriers in the world, acknowledged that there should be more female pilots at Turkish Airlines.

He said out of 86 new pilot graduates, only three are women and there were only 40 women pilots in the entire company out of 4,000 pilots.

"I invite all women who fit the requirements to become pilots," he added, setting an initial target of 10 percent of the fleet's pilot to be women.

Turkish Airlines plane turns back after false bomb alert

A Turkish Airlines passenger plane flying from Istanbul to Basel turned back over Bulgarian air space Friday after a bomb alert that later turned out to be false, the airline said.

The airline said the plane returned to Istanbul airport as a precautionary measure after the alert and underwent an investigation after all the passengers were taken off.

"The necessary investigation onboard has now been finalised and it became clear that it was a false bomb alert," it added.

Reports said that the alert was caused by the discovery of a written note warning of a bomb on board.

The alert is the latest in a string of such incidents and several Turkish Airlines flights have in recent weeks been forced to turn back or make unscheduled landings due to false bomb alerts.