ISTANBUL: A Turkish military transport plane on Wednesday crashed insouthern Anatolia, claiming the lives of three army personnel on board, theTurkish army said in a statement.
The plane, carrying two pilots and one technician, crashed in the southernIsparta province, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) said, offering condolencesto the families of “our heroic comrades” who were killed “as a result of atragic accident.”
The cause of the crash was not immediately known but local governor SehmusGunaydin told the state-run TRT television there was dense and thick fog inthe region.
“We are working to reach the wreck” of the plane, he said.
The CASA type plane took off from a base in western Anatolian province ofEskisehir at 0803 GMT and communication had been cut around 0950 GMT, and asearch and rescue operation begun, the army said.
In December last year, a Turkish fighter jet crashed near an airport in thesoutheastern city of Diyarbakir but the pilot was able to safely eject fromthe plane.