Russian, Turkish crew killed in fire helicopter crash
A helicopter taking part in fire-fighting efforts in Turkey crashed at around 15:20 hrs on 9 August near the village of Otmanlar, northeast of the town of Köyceğiz, Muğla Province. Initial reports of the accident stated that of the five crew members onboard the helicopter, a KA-32T, three have been confirmed dead and two others were missing, presumed dead. Later, all five were reported to have been killed.
A helicopter taking part in fire-fighting efforts in Turkey crashed at around 15:20 hrs on 9 August near the village of Otmanlar, northeast of the town of Köyceğiz, Muğla Province. Initial reports of the accident stated that of the five crew members onboard the helicopter, a KA-32T, three have been confirmed dead and two others were missing, presumed dead. Later, all five were reported to have been killed.
Ali Yildirim, forestry manager for Muğla Region, confirmed details of the incident to Hurriyet Daily News: “A helicopter that had joined the efforts to extinguish the wildfire in Otmanlar has crashed. There were two foreign pilots, one foreign technician, and one Turkish pilot and one Turkish forest management worker onboard.”
The crew comprised two Russian pilots, a Russian technician, a Turkish pilot and a Turkish forest conservation worker. According to reports, the Turkish pilot, Atif Ateşok, was injured in a previous incident when a KA-32 helicopter crashed during a fire-fighting mission in 2006.