Pilots rescued after aircraft crashes off Turkey’s Aegean coast

İZMİR

A Turkish military jet trainer crashed on April 9 in the Aegean Sea, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

According to a ministry statement, the two pilots of the KT-1 type plane that crashed during its regular training flight were rescued by Turkish Coast Guard teams.

The plane crashed due to engine failure, it said.

Local fishermen in the vicinity rushed to the rescue of the pilots Colonel Ahmet Kendir and Lt. Colonel Hakan Er Yılmaz, who went down to the Aegean Sea right thanks to the parachutes in the ejection seats.

Kendir and Eryılmaz were referred to Ege University Hospital by a military helicopter that took off from the runway in Foça Commando School.

Both pilots are in good health.

The ministry thanked local fishermen who took part in the search and rescue efforts.

The plane had taken off from the 2nd Main Airbase of the Turkish Air Force and crashed off the coast of the Foça district of western province of İzmir.

A corvette with a helicopter was sent to the area where the military training plane crashed into the sea.

The teams are working on the wreckage of the plane.

On April 7, another training aircraft crashed in the central city of Konya, and the sole pilot aboard was killed in the crash.

Cpt. Burak Gençcelep, who was killed in the crash, was laid to rest in an April 9 ceremony.