A SIAI-Marchetti SF-260D Military Training Aircraft Belonging To The Turkish Air Force Crashes, Killing Two Soldiers
On June 4, a SIAI-Marchetti SF-260D military training aircraft belonging to the Turkish Air Force 12th Air Transport Main Base crashed into an agricultural field near the city of Kayseri in central Turkey. Emergency teams, who started search and rescue efforts immediately after receiving the news of the accident, located the wreckage in a short time, but Pilot Colonel Uğur Yıldız and Pilot Colonel Gökhan Özen inside the aircraft were unable to be rescued.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, the accident occurred for an unknown reason, and the cause of the incident will be revealed in due course as a result of the teams’ investigation. The Kayseri Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office also announced that it has launched an investigation into the fatal accident.
This is not the first accident involving the Italian SF-260 aircraft, which have been used by the Turkish Air Force since the 1990s for basic pilot training of newly graduated Air Force Academy lieutenants. The first accident of the SF-260 aircraft, of which there are more than 30 in the inventory of the Turkish Air Force (some of which were purchased directly from the manufacturer and others produced by TAI under license) occurred in 1993 near Esenboğa airport in Ankara. Following this, accidents occurred in 1998, 2005, 2011, and 2018. While five of the accidents resulted in fatalities, only one did not.
Both the accidents and the fact that this Italian aircraft, which was introduced to the market in the mid-1960s, could no longer meet the requirements of the time led to the Turkish Defense Industry Agency signing a contract with the Pakistan Aviation Company (PAC) in 2017 for a total of 52 MFI-395 Super Mushshak training aircraft. The contract, which planned for deliveries to begin in 2020, was significantly delayed due to a number of unforeseen factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Turkish Air Force put the first aircraft into service in 2022. It is unclear whether deliveries have been completed since no developments regarding the MFI-395 Super Mushshak program have been reported in the press since this date.
In addition, Turkey launched the Hürjet project, which aims to produce domestic advanced jet training and close air support aircraft, during the same year as the MFI-395 Super Mushshak contract. Within the scope of the project under the responsibility of Turkish Aerospace Industries, the aircraft’s conceptual design was completed in April 2018, preliminary design activities in July 2019, and critical design activities in February 2021. Production and assembly of the HÜRJET Project prototype aircraft started in January 2022, and in the same year, the Defense Industry Executive Board (SSİK) decided to begin mass-production of the aircraft. The aircraft, which completed ground tests and made its first flight in 2023, is expected to join the Turkish Air Force inventory in 2025. The Turkish Air Force will initially receive 16 Hürjet aircraft. Following that, Turkish Aerospace Industries plans to increase production capacity and provide two Hürjets to the air force every month.