F-16 jet goes out of control Turkish airshow narrowly avoids disaster
An F-16 jet belonging to a Turkish aerobatics squadron is in a threatening spin at a show in Adana. The pilot catches the plane close to the audience. Memories of the Ramstein disaster come flooding back.
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- At the Turkish aviation show Teknofest in Adana, the F-16 of the Solotürk aerobatic team briefly goes out of control.
- Videos on social media show the jet swaying as it loses altitude and passes close to the audience.
- In March of this year, a worker was killed when an aircraft belonging to another Turkish show association crashed.
The audience's reactions range from admiration to horror. An F-16 performs a sideways roll shortly before flying past the crowd and then begins to falter menacingly. On the videos, it appears that the pilot catches the jet at the last second and directly above the audience. Another recording shows that the plane was probably to the side of the audience.
There has been no official comment on the incident. The military news portal The Warzone writes that Turkish authorities have begun an investigation. A possible malfunction on the plane is also being suggested, rather than a mistake by the pilot.
For some, the images may bring to mind the 1988 Ramstein accident. Back then, three jets from the Italian Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team collided, one crashed into the audience and one into a helicopter on standby. 70 people died and hundreds were injured.
Repeated incidents with Turkish jets
The trade magazine "Austrian Wings" reports on the incident in Turkey and recalls a fatal crash involving the Turkish Stars show in March 2024, when an aircraft went out of control on approach, the pilot was able to save himself with the ejection seat, but the pilotless aircraft hit a worker on a construction machine near the runway. The worker died as a result of the accident.
"Austrian Wings" recalls that there have been repeated incidents involving Turkish flying squadrons at aviation events in the past, as well as a high number of crashes in the civilian sector. For example, the Turkish Stars are no longer invited by various airshow organizers.