Crucial equipment on a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 which crashed near Schiphol airport in 2009, killing nine people, had been found to be defective 16 times in the year before the accident, transport minister Wilma Mansfeld has told parliament.

A faulty altimeter – apparatus to measure how high a plane is from the ground – was found to be one of the main causes of the crash, in which 80 people were also injured.
The altimeter had been repaired on all 16 occasions, Mansveld said. ‘Action was undertaken in all cases, including restarting the system and replacing the antennae,’ the minister said.
Crash
The official report into the crash in February 2009 said it was due to a combination of circumstances, including a faulty altitude meter and ‘inadequate response’ from the pilots. The report also criticised the actions of air traffic control officials for not being clear enough in their instructions as the plane came into land.
The Dutch public prosecution department decided last year not to instigate criminal proceedings, but civil claims are under way in the US.
The Boeing crashed around 10.30 am on February 25 into fields close to Schiphol. Nine people were killed, the four crew members and five passengers. A further 80 were injured. Four of those killed worked for Boeing.