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A Turkish fighter jet crashed shortly after taking off early Wednesday, resulting in the pilot’s death, according to state media citing the defense ministry. The aircraft, which departed from Balikesir at 12:56 a.m. local time (2156 GMT Tuesday), lost radio and tracking contact shortly after launch, the ministry reported via the official Anadolu Agency. A search and rescue effort was initiated, and the wreckage was subsequently found.
“The pilot was martyred. The cause of the crash will be determined after an investigation by the crash analysis team,” the ministry stated, offering condolences to the pilot’s family. In November, Turkey halted flights of its C-130 cargo planes following a crash in neighboring Georgia during a return flight from Azerbaijan that killed all 20 onboard. Other F-16 fighter jets, built by the U.S. company Lockheed Martin, have also crashed in recent months.
In January, one Taiwanese F-16 went down at sea during a routine mission; the pilot ejected and was reported missing. In August, a Polish F-16 crashed during a practice for an air show, killing its pilot.
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