Turkish Defense Ministry says four killed in S-70 helicopter crash

The Turkish Defense Ministry said four military personnel died Thursday evening when an S-70 helicopter crashed on Malatya’s southern outskirts. What caused the crash remained unknown.

The ministry announced the deaths in a social media post. “As a result of an accident involving our S-70 helicopter in Malatya, for a reason not yet determined, 4 of our heroic comrades-in-arms aboard the helicopter were martyred,” it said.

The aircraft went down in Samankoy, a neighborhood of Malatya, the capital of Malatya province. Television footage showed the burning wreckage close to several buildings, surrounded otherwise by open land.

Fire from the crash reached a house nearby, though nobody on the ground was reported hurt, according to the Demiroren News Agency, cited by The Associated Press.

The identities of the dead were not immediately known, nor was it clear whether others were aboard, what the helicopter’s mission had been or whether it had any connection to the 7th Main Jet Base.

Police, firefighters and medical teams were dispatched to Samankoy after the crash. Türkiye Today said Turkey’s disaster agency, AFAD, sent teams as well, while emergency crews extinguished a small fire at the crash site. Officials from the police and military were inspecting the site.

Before it announced the deaths, the ministry said responders had reached the wreckage and that search and rescue work had started immediately.

“We pray that God will have mercy on our martyrs and offer our condolences and prayers for strength to their grieving families, our Turkish Armed Forces, and our noble nation,” the ministry said.

The Turkish Air Force operates the 7th Main Jet Base, a large installation north of Malatya.

Armed forces worldwide use the Sikorsky S-70 extensively for transport. The Black Hawk is among its variants and can carry up to 11 soldiers in addition to its air crew.