An F-16 military plane crashed in the Turkish city of Balıkesir (Western Turkey). A pilot was killed in the plane crash, Turkish state television “TRT Haber“ reported, quoted by BTA.
The plane was part of the fleet of the Air Force unit in Balıkesir. According to information from the governor of the district, Ismail Ustaoğlu, it crashed at around 0:50 a.m. local time during a flight related to the execution of a mission. The causes of the fatal incident will become clear after the investigation, which is being conducted by the Chief Prosecutor's Office in Balıkesir, is completed.
The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that the wreckage of the plane has already been found.
“The connection with the F-16 aircraft, which took off from the Ninth Air Force Division - Balıkesir, as well as its traces, was lost at 0:56 a.m. The plane crash was established, and the wreckage was found during the search and rescue operations, which began immediately. The pilot died“, the Turkish Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The Turkish Ministry of Justice published a statement by Justice Minister Akan Gurlek on the institution's official Facebook account, through which he presented details of the investigation that has been launched.
“The Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and two prosecutors from the Chief Prosecutor's Office are at the scene of the incident“, Gurlek said.
A section of the Istanbul - Izmir highway was also closed during the investigation of the plane crash.
This is the second plane crash in Turkey in three months involving the military. On December 23, 2025, a plane with high-ranking Libyan military personnel on board crashed while taking off from Ankara. In another plane crash on November 11, 2025, 20 servicemen died. Then the C-130 military transport plane, traveling from Azerbaijan to Turkey, crashed in the Georgian municipality of Sighnaghi.