F-16 fighter jet crashes onto busy Turkish highway (video footage)
An F-16 fighter jet crashed onto a busy highway in Türkiye (Photo: Getty Images)
Today at night, February 25, a combat F-16 fighter jet crashed onto a busy highway in Türkiye. The pilot of the fighter jet was reported killed, according to Yeni Akit.
Read also: Turkish intelligence raises concerns over Russia-Ukraine war
The aircraft took off from the local 9th air base and was conducting a routine training flight when technical difficulties occurred. The air crash happened around 1 a.m., and the fighter jet crashed in the area of the busy Izmir – Istanbul highway.
After the crash, a strong fire broke out at the site, and debris from the aircraft was scattered over hundreds of meters. Emergency services are working at the scene, an investigation is ongoing, and the highway has been closed indefinitely.
The Ministry of National Defense of Türkiye confirmed information about the fighter jet crash. The military organized a search-and-rescue operation and recovered aircraft wreckage. A crash investigation commission is determining the cause of the incident.
Akin Gurlak announced that the Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Balikesir has already begun an investigation into the F-16 crash.
Earlier, it was reported that Turkish F-16 fighters on Monday, December 15, shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle approaching the country’s airspace over the Black Sea.
NATO asked Türkiye to provide F-16 fighters several months earlier for the alliance’s air patrol mission in the Baltic States in 2026. Turkish fighters last performed patrols as part of such a mission at the beginning of 2025.
