An NF-5 aircraft encountered an unspecified issue and crashed as it was preparing to land at 12:51 local time on Thursday, during a training exercise from the 3rd Main Jet Base in Konya, Central Anatolian region of Turkey.
The pilot managed to survive by ejecting using a parachute moments before the crash. Emergency services, including numerous medical and firefighting teams, were dispatched to the scene. The pilot was subsequently airlifted to a hospital for treatment.
Vahdettin Özkan, Governor of Konya, announced that the crash resulted in the death of a military personnel who was operating construction machinery at the site where the jet went down. This incident recalls a similar event in Konya in 2022, where a training aircraft crashed, with the pilot also surviving by ejecting with a parachute. The recurrence of such accidents raises questions about the safety measures and protocols in place for military training exercises in the country.
