Update (0720 EST): The Turkish Defense Ministry has confirmed that a maintenance repair worker was killed, and a pilot has been hospitalized after a NF-5 aircraft crashed during a training flight in Konya, Turkey.
Konya’da e?itim uçu?u yapan Hava Kuvvetlerimize ait bir NF-5 uça??m?z saat 12.51’de henüz bilinmeyen bir nedenle kaza k?r?ma u?ram??t?r.
Kaza k?r?ma u?rayan uça??m?z?n pilotu atlayarak kurtulmu?, hastaneye sevk edilmi?tir.
Uça??n dü?tü?ü bölgede pist onar?m çal??mas? yapan…
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanl??? (@tcsavunma) March 14, 2024
At approximately 0630 EST, initial reports indicated that an aircraft from the Turkish Stars aerobatic team had crashed in Konya, Turkey. The pilot has reportedly ejected and a parachute was observed by eyewitnesses. The pilot has reportedly been hospitalized.
Pilot para?ütle atlad?, tedbir amaçl? hastaneye kald?r?ld?.#konya pic.twitter.com/twPvBCtcV8
— MemurlarNet (@memurlarnet) March 14, 2024
The Turkish Stars are the aerobatic demonstration team of the Turkish Air Force and the national aerobatics team of Turkey. The team consists of (10) NF-5A Freedom Fighter and (2) NF-5B Freedom Fighter aircraft.
The Turkish Stars have had several high-profile crashes including two deadly crashes on 13 March 2012 and 7 April 2021. Both the pilots in those incidents died. There was a non-lethal crash on 6 Dec 2022 in which the pilot survived after a bird strike.
