Turkish pilot dies, sole passenger survives in plane crash

RİZE

A light civilian aircraft crashed in the Kaçkar Mountains at the confluence of Türkiye’s Rize, Bayburt and Erzurum provinces, claiming the life of the pilot and leaving the sole passenger injured.

The single-engine plane had departed from Eskişehir in central Türkiye and was headed toward the Black Sea city of Rize when it lost contact on the evening of July 2.

A large-scale search and rescue operation was launched after passenger Hicran Kaya managed to place an emergency call, stating, “The plane hit a mountain. I don’t know where we are. Please help us, we’re dying.”

Rescue teams, including a military helicopter and disaster units from surrounding provinces, located the wreckage early morning at a high altitude on July 3.

The female passenger was found injured and transported to a nearby hospital.

Her condition was reported as stable.

Local authorities later confirmed that the pilot, Mehmet Demirci, died in the crash.

Demirci, an amateur pilot and electrical engineer, had embarked on a solo round-the-world journey that had been his childhood dream.

The ill-fated flight was one of the first legs of his planned route, which included 32 international stops.

He had intended to continue to Kazakhstan, Russia and the United States, where he aimed to participate in a major aviation event in late July.

Before the onset of the journey, Demirci told journalists he chose 2025 for the journey to draw attention to global peace and mark the centennial of the Turkish Aeronautical Association.