Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumakli said that the wreckage of a fire service aircraft belonging to the General Directorate of Forestry, with which radio contact was lost, was discovered in Croatia. According to him, the pilot died.
Yumakli in his publication on the social network NSosyal noted:
“In Croatia, near the city of Senj, the wreckage of a firefighting aircraft belonging to the Main Forestry Directorate was discovered, with which radio contact was lost. I express my condolences to the family and relatives of our pilot who died in this tragic accident.”
Earlier, the Main Directorate reported: “Two firefighting aircraft AT802, belonging to the General Directorate of Forestry, took off on November 12, Wednesday, at 10:24 am, from Canakkale to Zagreb (Croatia) for scheduled maintenance, due to weather conditions, both aircraft remained at Rijeka Airport (Croatia). On November 13, at 17:38 Turkish time, the aircraft took off towards Zagreb Airport, but due to weather conditions. conditions were forced to return to Rijeka. During the return flight, one plane successfully landed at Rijeka airport, but contact with the other plane was lost at 18:25 Turkish time. Search and rescue operations began in coordination with Croatian services to establish the location of the pilot and the plane.”