Türkiye–Russia flight turns back after distress signal over Black Sea

A passenger aircraft en route from Istanbul to Mineralnye Vody turned back shortly after departure on Saturday after issuing a distress signal over the Black Sea, according to aviation sources and flight tracking data.

“The aircraft that departed from Istanbul for Mineralnye Vody is returning to Istanbul due to possible malfunctions on board,” a source in air traffic control told TASS, without specifying the nature of the issue.

Data from flight tracking service Flightradar24 showed the aircraft departed from Istanbul Airport and climbed to an altitude of nearly 10,000 meters while flying over the Black Sea in Turkish airspace. The aircraft subsequently began descending, turned around and transmitted an emergency signal.

At the time of reporting, the plane was en route back to Istanbul, flying at an altitude of approximately 3,000 meters.

By Tamilla Hasanova