A retired colonel serving as a flight instructor was killed after a training helicopter crashed in the Turkish capital of Ankara on July 22, while the cause of the accident remained unknown.
The crash occurred at around 10 a.m. local time in Ankara’s Sincan district when an R44 training helicopter went down in a vacant lot beside a road.
Emergency crews dispatched to the scene rescued the helicopter’s two occupants and transported them to hospital with injuries.
Hours later, authorities confirmed that the instructor pilot, retired Colonel Yasaözden Bakkal, succumbed to his injuries. The second personnel remains hospitalized and is receiving treatment, the reports said.
Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash. However, media reports and eyewitness accounts indicated that the accident occurred as the helicopter was attempting to land during a training flight.
“The helicopter made a hard landing during the training exercise. As can be seen from photographs taken at the scene, the aircraft struck the ground largely intact,” one observer said.
The U.S.-manufactured Robinson R44 is a four-seat, single-engine light helicopter with a cruising speed of around 200 kilometers (124 miles) per hour.
Widely regarded as one of the world’s most commonly used civilian helicopters due to its relatively low operating costs and ease of handling, the R44 is also considered more susceptible to adverse weather
conditions because of its single-engine design.
Aviation experts note that helicopters in this class may experience reduced performance in unfavorable weather, as well as in high-temperature and high-altitude operating conditions.
