Pilot dies in Air Forces plane crash

KONYA - Anatolia News Agency

Lieutenant Ümit Özer died when his F-5 plane crashed near a factory. DHA photo

A Turkish Air Forces pilot was killed yesterday when the plane he was flying in a training flight crashed in the Central Anatolian province of Konya. The pilot was identified as Lieutenant Ümit Özer, 31, who was reported to have joined the Air Forces recently.

Konya Governor Aydın Nezih Doğan said Özer was killed when his F-5 plane crashed near a factory on the Konya-Ankara road. The plane belonged to the Turkish Air Forces Command aerobatic team. Doğan extended his condolences to the pilot’s family.

President Abdullah Gül also offered his condolences to Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel in a written message. Firefighters and ambulances were sent to the scene of the crash immediately. The cause of the accident is still unknown, the General Staff announced.