Turkish Phantom down near Syria!

[Arjan]

Acccording to media there has been a crash of a Turkish Phantom today. The aircraft took of from Erhac and is expected to go down near the coast of Syria.
Speculations are running wild about the plane being hit by Syrian air defense.
A rescue operation is currently being run to look for survivors!

[Rockville]

Turkish Warplane Vanishes over Syria Border

The Turkish army announced Friday that it lost contact with a Turkish fighter jet over the border with Syria, according to media reports.

Turkey’s state-run news agency said “two pilots were on board of a military jet that disappeared on radar over the Mediterranean Sea in the south-west of the southern province of Hatay after departing from Malatya-Erhac air base at 10:30.”

Malatya Governor Ulvi Saran said that there was not any information regarding the missing plane at the moment.

Two pilots were on board, he said.

“The jet disappeared on radar at 11:58,” according to the Turkish news agency.

“Search and rescue operations for the missing jet are being conducted in the region,” the agency said.

Al-Jazeera television, citing Turkey’s Dogan news agency, said the aircraft crashed into "Syria’s territorial waters."

Meanwhile, a witness told Russia's RT Arabic television that the Turkish plane crashed on Syrian territory and the two pilots were captured, adding that the jet appears to have been shot down.

And the Lebanon-based, pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV said the Turkish warplane went down as Syrian air defenses opened fire.

For its part, al-Jadeed television quoted “Syrian sources” as saying that “Syrian anti-aircraft artillery opened fire last night at hostile planes over the Latakia area of al-Badrousiyeh, downing one of them.”

Later on Friday, CNN Turk television reported that “the two pilots were found alive in the Mediterranean, eight miles away from the Syrian territorial waters.”

Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper, without citing sources, said the plane apparently plunged into international waters outside the territorial waters of Syria.

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/4432 ... ria-border

[wamovements]

According to Telegraaf.nl Syria already made apologize for this incident.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[larrythechief]

Damn Syrians!!! There should be no shooting at Phantoms!! They're an endangered species GD :-/

[ETURSPOTTER]

Damn Syrians!!! There should be no shooting at Phantoms!! They're an endangered species GD :-/

I completly agree with Larrythechief

[Richard from Rotterdam]

Radar plotting images showing the flightpath of the Phantom, shown by the Turkish military, state "RF-4" at various plots. So that should clear up the "unarmed" aircraft statements.

[Wildpicture]

Turkish officials now also state it was a reconnaissance plane. Which is possible if it took off from Erhac.

The question remains whether is was "normal" training flight or a flight to photograph specific positions in Syria.

[nilsko]

Things escalate? http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/1242 ... ten__.html Okay, it's "De Telegraaf" so maybe we should take it with a grain of salt, but still..

[Stratofreighter]

Things escalate? http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/1242 ... ten__.html Okay, it's "De Telegraaf" so maybe we should take it with a grain of salt, but still..

It's not only the "Televaag" now...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18586645

Syria shot at second plane, Turkey says Nato will discuss the downed F-4 jet on Tuesday

Turkey says Syria fired on one of its planes that was taking part in a rescue operation for a warplane shot down by Syrian forces last Friday.

Turkey's deputy PM said the CASA search and rescue plane, looking for the F-4 Phantom jet, was not brought down.

[Brian]

Nu.nl talks about an RF-4E

http://www.nu.nl/buitenland/2844181/tur ... -navo.html

[witje]

Serial 77-0314

[Stratofreighter]

http://www.france24.com/en/20120704-tur ... ilots-army

04 July 2012 - 15H02

Turkey recovers bodies of downed jet's pilots: army

AFP - The bodies of the two pilots of a Turkish jet that was downed by Syria on June 22 have been recovered at the bottom of the eastern Mediterranean sea, the Turkish army said Wednesday.

"The bodies (of the two pilots) have been recovered in seabed and work is underway to bring them to surface," the army command said on a statement posted on its website.

The statement maintained that the two-seater F-4 Phantom was shot in international airspace by Syrian fire, but that the wreckage of the downed fighter has not yet been spotted.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said Tuesday he regretted that his country's defence forces shot down the jet, but insisted the plane was in Syrian airspace at the time of the shooting.

[Stratofreighter]

Photos of the RF-4 wreckage on the seabed:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Defaul ... otoGallery

Turkish Armed Forces releases images of the downed jet wreckage

...and some thirty more photos at http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Defaul ... otoGallery

[Stratofreighter]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... dfb448.131

Turkey says no traces of explosives on downed fighter
(AFP) – 1 day ago

ANKARA — Turkey said it has found no traces of explosives on the wreckage of a fighter jet it has claimed was downed by Syria, raising new questions about the incident that inflamed cross-border tensions.

"No traces of explosives or flammable products were found on the debris recovered from the sea," a statement from Turkey's general staff said on Wednesday,
adding that other material was still being examined.

For the first time, the army also declined to use the term "shot down by Syria" instead referring to "our plane that Syria claimed to have destroyed".

Turkey has previously maintained that the F-4 Phantom was shot down in international airspace over the eastern Mediterranean by Syrian fire on June 22, f
urther souring relations between the one-time allies.

Two weeks after the incident, a Turkish rescue team, fortified by the US deep-sea explorer Nautilus,
recovered the bodies of the two pilots from the seabed, but most of the wreckage,
believed to be in pieces, remained at the bottom of the Mediterranean.

"A technical investigation is ongoing on the parts we have salvaged, and on the video footage of other parts still lying at the bottom of the sea," the statement added.

Turkish experts, however, say establishing what happened to the plane on June 22 would only be possible once all the wreckage was recovered.

"Syria thinks they opened fire and shot down the plane, Turkey thinks the plane was shot down.

But now we have the third option that the plane might have just crashed trying to dodge fire," the Haberturk daily quoted security analyst Nihat Ali Ozcan as saying.

The information shared by the general staff does not support either argument, retired vice-admiral Atilla Kiyat told the same daily.

"The announcement from the army command does not confirm or refute Turkey's or Syria's explanation for that matter."

Syria maintains that the the fighter was flying low in Syrian airspace when it was shot down by shore-based anti-aircraft guns.

Turkish media speculated that the plane might have crashed due to pilot error or technical failure.

"I think we are increasingly witnessing politics enter into the scene here," former air force general Erdogan Karakus told Hurriyet daily.

"I am feeling Turkey might be gradually giving up on its missile claims," he noted.

[Stratofreighter]

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkis ... sCatID=341

Turkish jet shot down by Syrian missile blast: Military prosecutor

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

A Turkish F-4 Phantom warplane which crashed into the Mediterranean on June 22 was shot down by a Syrian air defense missile even though the missile did not directly hit the plane,
a report by a military prosecutor said today.

The report said radar data obtained from the plane's computer indicated that the plane received a signal from a missile.

Syrian authorities have insistently said they shot down the Turkish plane within Syrian air space with anti-aircraft guns as the plane flew at an altitude of 100 meters.

The military prosecutor's report said even though there were no indications to show that a missile impacted the plane,
the plane's remains carried traces of material found in surface-to-air missiles.

The report added there was no damage to the plane that might have been caused by fire from an anti-aircraft gun, as Syrian authorities suggested.

"Parts of the retrieved plane wreck were taken through metallurgic examination,
and traces of potassium chlorate,
which is used as an oxidizing agent in missile fuels and as the main substance in missile warheads,
were found splashed on the plane's fuselage," the report said.

The report concluded that a surface-to-air missile was fired toward the Turkish plane as it flew in international air space in the eastern Mediterranean.

"The missile detonated just behind and to the left of the plane.

The blast from the explosion caused the plane and the pilots to lose the capability to continue a stable flight.

The plane continuously lost altitude as it banked left, until it crashed into water in a position slightly tipped to the left with the plane's nose pointing up."

The report said there were no indications of a technical malfunction that might have caused the plane to crash.

September/19/2012