Türkiye’s Defence Ministry discloses details of F‑16 crash VIDEO

A Turkish F‑16 fighter jet crashed in the early hours of Wednesday (February 25) following a scramble over an unidentified object detected on radar near the Bulgarian border.

The Turkish Ministry of Defence confirmed the incident, with spokesperson Zeki Aktürk stating that the aircraft was deployed in response to the radar alert, Caliber.Az reports per Turkish media.

According to the ministry, the pilot attempted to eject from the jet before the crash.

The aircraft, based at the 9th Main Jet Base Command in Balıkesir, took off shortly before 00:50 local time and lost contact minutes later. Wreckage was later discovered by the roadside near the Karesi district, close to the Istanbul–Izmir motorway.

The Turkish Ministry of National Defence stated that radio contact and radar tracking with the F-16 were lost from 00:56 onwards.

Balıkesir Governor İsmail Ustaoğlu confirmed that the jet had been conducting a routine mission flight when it crashed shortly after take-off. Emergency services, including police, firefighters and medical teams, were dispatched to the scene following reports of the incident.

The pilot’s body was recovered at the crash site, where debris was scattered over a wide area.

By Aghakazim Guliyev