A firefighting aircraft of the Directorate of Forestry returning from maintenance in Croatia crashed. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı announced that the wreckage had been found and the pilot had been martyred.
A firefighting plane of the General Directorate of Forestry going to Zagreb for maintenance crashed near the city of Senj. The pilot on the plane was killed in the accident.
A statement on this subject was issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Accordingly, two Air Traktor type firefighting aircraft belonging to the Directorate of Forestry departed from Çanakkale to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, to carry out maintenance operations on Wednesday, November 12.
When the two planes could not reach Zagreb due to meteorological conditions, they landed at Rejika airport in Croatia.
The planes spent the night here and took off from Rejika Airport to arrive in Zagreb again at 17:38 Turkish time.
However, the two planes decided to return to Rejika Airport due to difficult weather conditions.
While one of the planes was returning to the airport, contact was lost with the other plane at 18:25 Türkiye time.
Afterwards, Croatian authorities launched a search and rescue operation to reach the pilot and the plane.
Results of a review at the scene showed that the plane's wreckage had been found, but it was determined that the pilot on duty was martyred.
MINISTER YUMAKLI: Our pilot was martyred
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı announced this sad news on social networks.
In his post, Yumaklı said, “The wreckage of our firefighting plane belonging to our Directorate of Forestry, where radio communication was lost in Croatia, was found near the city of Senj, Croatia.
May God have mercy on our pilot who was martyred in the accident, and I extend my condolences and patience to his family and loved ones.
“I send my condolences to the forestry organization and our beloved country,” he said.
PLEASE MESSAGE FROM BURHANETTİN DURAN
Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran shared a condolence message about the pilot who was martyred in the crashed firefighting plane.
Duran used the following statements in his article:
“May God have mercy on our pilot, who was martyred by the crash of our Forestry Directorate firefighting aircraft in Croatia, and I wish patience to his family, relatives and our Forestry Organization. I send my condolences to our beloved country.”
AT-802 FIRE FIGHTING AIRCRAFT
AT-802 has amphibious features and can carry 3 thousand liters of water. Amphibious firefighting aircraft can take off and land on water, and can continuously intervene in the fire zone in a short time by taking water from the sea, lake or dam. In this way, it greatly contributes to controlling fires before they break out, especially in mountainous and difficult geographical areas.
