Three soldiers killed in military plane crash in Turkey’s Isparta, cause unknown

ISPARTA

Three Turkish soldiers were killed after a CASA-type military aircraft crashed in the Central Anatolian province of Isparta on Jan. 17.

Isparta Governor Şehmus Günaydın has confirmed that two pilots and one technician were killed in the crash, which occurred in a rural area of Isparta’s Yalvaç district.

Günaydın said the cause of the crash is still unknown but noted that weather conditions were foggy during the flight.

“There is heavy fog and rainfall and no way to clear the debris by land. I’ll be in the wreckage area a little later. We do not know the exact reason for the accident,” he said.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) issued a statement after the crash, saying the debris of the plane and the bodies of the three on board had been reached.

“On Jan. 17, 2018, a CN-235 CASA-type military transport aircraft departed at 11:03 a.m. from the Eskişehir Main Jet Base Command with two pilots and one technician on board as part of a training exercise. When contact with the plane was cut at around 12:50 p.m., a rescue operation began. At around 14:30 p.m. we reached the north of Lake Eğirdir, where we found the debris of the plane as well as the bodies of our three heroic soldiers,” the statement said.

The families of the killed soldiers Major Ümit Karamustafa and Captain Ali Şahin were informed by officials.

Meanwhile, the Turkish sports community expressed their condolences over the incident.

The Turkish Football Federation said the incident had caused deep pain.

“We have learnt with pain that a military aircraft crashed in Isparta Yalvaç during a training exercise, killing the three servicemen on board. We, at the Turkey Football Federation, wish for the killed soldiers to receive God’s mercy,” the statement said.

Three prominent Turkish football clubs, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş have also expressed their condolences in written statements.

The CN-235 is a medium-range twin-engine transport aircraft jointly developed by Spain’s Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) and Indonesian Aerospace (Dirgantara Indonesia), formerly known as IPTN.