Malatya: 4 Soldiers Killed in Crash of Turkish S-70 Helicopter

Turkey's Ministry of National Defense announced that four soldiers were killed when a military helicopter of the S-70 model crashed in the city of Malatya, noting that the cause "has not yet been determined."

The ministry's statement said: "Our S-70 helicopter suffered a disaster in Malatya for reasons not yet known, and four heroic comrades-in-arms on board were martyred."

In an assessment he gave to CNN Türk, the head of the aviation department at Bahçeşehir University, Tolga İnan, ruled out a weather factor behind the incident, citing wind and visibility conditions, and said: "There does not appear to be any weather situation. Either a technical-mechanical failure occurred at the moment of takeoff, or a collision with power lines."

İnan explained that the S-70 helicopter belongs to the Black Hawk family, a medium-sized, twin-engine multi-purpose helicopter capable of carrying up to 15 people. He noted that having two engines does not mean that a failure of one of them automatically leads to a crash, and that these aircraft are usually equipped with a black box.

The expert stressed that the age of the helicopter is not in itself evidence of its poor condition, saying: "What matters is not the age but the maintenance. Sikorsky is an excellent, widely used helicopter."

He added that determining the actual cause requires examining the wreckage and analyzing the cockpit voice and data recorders, then waiting for the final report of the aviation accidents investigation committee.