Military training aircraft in Türkiye crashes, kills two: Ministry

A training aircraft belonging to the Turkish Air Force Command crashed in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, resulting in the death of two pilots, the Defense Ministry has announced

"An SF-260D type training aircraft of our Air Force Command, which took off from Kayseri 12th Air Transportation Main Base Command for training, crashed for an unknown reason. Search and rescue operations have started," said the ministry in a written statement.

Despite immediate rescue efforts, both pilots onboard lost their lives when the aircraft crashed into an agricultural area.

"I express my condolences to our martyrs' families, to our heroic army and to our nation," Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

This incident follows a previous emergency landing by a plane from the same base on Jan. 25, caused by a technical malfunction. While the C-160 type aircraft sustained minor damage, no casualties were reported in the earlier incident.

The cause of the crash remains unknown, and search and rescue operations are underway.