F4 fighter jet part falls onto parking lot in Ankara
ANKARA
A part of an F4 fighter jet has crashed into an open parking lot belonging to the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) in Ankara's Çankaya district on Sept. 4.
Around 11:30 a.m. local time, a drop tank, which serves as an auxiliary fuel tank, detached from the warplane under the jurisdiction of the Air Force Command plummeting into the parking lot and causing damage to three parked vehicles. The precise cause of the incident remains under investigation.
Promptly after the incident occurred, a team of firefighters and police personnel were dispatched to the site following reports from concerned citizens in the vicinity. Additionally, military officials arrived at the scene to assess the situation.
Several witnesses captured the moment when the section of the fighter jet fell from the sky using their mobile phones.
In an official statement regarding the incident, the Defense Ministry confirmed that the aircraft involved safely landed in nearby Eskişehir province.
No casualties or injuries resulted from the incident. "A detailed technical investigation into the matter is currently underway," the ministry stated.
Commenting on the event former Chief of General Staff Intelligence İsmail Hakkı Pekin told private broadcaster CNN TÜRK that the occurrence is an unprecedented incident.
"The broken part is not one that impacts the plane's operation that much... It could be attributed to metal fatigue. Despite modernization efforts, these are aging aircraft that have been in service for several years," he explained.
