Overview
- Radio contact and tracking were lost at 00:56 local time shortly after the jet departed the 9th Main Aircraft Base Command in Balıkesir.
- Search-and-rescue teams located the wreckage and the Ministry of National Defense identified the deceased pilot as Major İbrahim Bolat.
- The flight took place during a nighttime mission and local footage showed debris near a stretch of the Istanbul–Izmir highway.
- Officials said a formal accident inquiry is underway and no preliminary cause has been released.
- The crash comes after a series of recent military aviation incidents, including Turkey’s November suspension of C-130 flights following a fatal crash in Georgia and other F-16 losses reported in Taiwan and Poland.