site.btaPilot Dies in F-16 Military Jet Crash in Western Turkiye

A military F-16 aircraft crashed in the Western Turkish province of Balikesir, leaving the pilot dead, Turkish state broadcaster TRT Haber reported on Wednesday. The aircraft was part of the air fleet of an Air Force unit based in Balikesir.

According to Balikesir Governor Ismail Ustaoglu, the aircraft went down at around 00:50 local time during a mission-related flight. The causes of the fatal incident will become clear after the investigation conducted by the Balikesir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is completed.

The Defence Ministry of Turkiye said the wreckage of the aircraft had already been located.

The Turkish National Defence Ministry said in a statement that the contact with the F-16 aircraft, which took off from the 9th Air Force Base Command in Balikesir, as well as its radar trace, was lost at 00:56. The Ministry added that the crash was confirmed and the wreckage was found during search-and-rescue operations launched immediately, and the pilot has died.

The Turkish Justice Ministry published a statement by Justice Minister Akin Gurlek on its official Facebook page, providing details about the investigation. Gurlek noted that the chief prosecutor, a deputy chief prosecutor, and two prosecutors went to the crash scene.

A section of the Istanbul-Izmir road was closed as part of the investigation.

This is the third military-related air accident in Turkiye within three months. On December 23, 2025, an aircraft carrying senior military officials from Libya crashed during take-off from Ankara. In another air crash on November 11, 2025, 20 servicemen were killed when a military transport aircraft travelling from Azerbaijan to Turkiye went down in Sighnaghi municipality in Georgia.