Two dead in Turkish fighter jet crash in Central Anatolia

KONYA

AA Photo

Two pilots have died after a Turkish Air Force F-4E crashed in the Central Anatolian province of Konya on the morning of March 5, the second such accident in less than two weeks.An F-4E aircraft that took off for a training flight at 09.00 from Eskisehir airbase crashed one hour later in Konya, the Turkish Armed Forces said in a statement on its website.“It crashed in Konya for unknown reasons. The two pilots are dead. An investigation into the causes of the accident has been started,” the statement said.The pilots killed in the crash were identified as Mustafa Tanış and Mustafa Delikanlı.Konya Governor Muammer Erol has said the flight was not part of a joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercise that kicked off on March 2.Air Force Commander Akın Öztürk cut his official Azerbaijan trip short following the accident. He is expected to travel to Konya after arriving back in Turkey.President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called Chief of General Staff Necdet Özel regarding the crash and conveyed his condolences.The accident came after two F-4 jets crashed during a training exercise on Feb. 24 in the Eastern Anatolian province of Malatya, resulting in the death of four pilots on board.Fourteen pilots have died in 13 crashes of RF-4E flights in Turkey over the last 35 years. Twelve of the aircraft are left in the Air Force’s inventory.