Turkey Military Helicopter Crash Kills 4 in Malatya

Four Turkish military personnel have been killed after an S-70 helicopter of the Turkish Armed Forces crashed in the Samanköy area of Yeşilyurt district near Malatya in eastern Turkey at around 18:45 local time on November 12. The Turkish Ministry of National Defence announced the deaths in a statement describing the four as “heroic comrades-in-arms” and stating that the accident had occurred “for a reason not yet determined”, having earlier reported that rescue teams had reached the wreckage and begun search and rescue operations. The Malatya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened a judicial investigation, while the ministry has not disclosed which service operated the helicopter, what mission it was flying or the names of the dead. The loss strikes one of the most important types in the Turkish utility helicopter fleet at a time when its planned expansion has been considerably slowed by dependence on American approvals.

The crash is far from the first fatal helicopter accident for the Turkish military in recent years. On December 9, 2024, two UH-1 helicopters of the Army Aviation School collided during a training flight near Keçiborlu in Isparta province, killing six personnel including the school’s commander, Brigadier General Isa Baydilli, with the second helicopter landing safely. On March 4, 2021, an AS532 Cougar flying from Bingöl crashed near Tatvan in Bitlis province, killing 11 personnel including Lieutenant General Osman Erbaş, commander of the 8th Army Corps, with then Defence Minister Hulusi Akar attributing the accident to a sudden deterioration in the weather. A Turkish serviceman and two Aselsan technicians were also among seven killed when a Qatari military helicopter crashed during a training flight for the joint Qatari and Turkish force command on March 22, 2026, with Qatar’s Ministry of Defence attributing the crash to a technical malfunction.

The S-70 is Sikorsky’s designation for the Black Hawk family, a twin-engine transport which in its utility configuration carries up to 11 troops in addition to its crew. Turkey has long operated the type, and in 2007 it launched the Turkish Utility Helicopter Program to build the T-70, a localised S-70i, with Turkish Aerospace as prime contractor, TEI T700-TEI-701D engines and Aselsan avionics. The program was to deliver 109 helicopters to six users, the Land Forces, Air Force, Gendarmerie, Special Forces, Police and Directorate of Forestry, in general purpose, combat search and rescue and firefighting variants, with the armed forces’ need for the type growing as Ankara weighs wider commitments abroad such as troops under the Mecca pact.

U.S. sanctions imposed over Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 system significantly disrupted the T-70, with Lockheed Martin partially suspending work in October 2024 and later booking a $95 million loss on the contract as export licences for further kits were withheld. The program has since been renegotiated, with Turkish Aerospace reportedly receiving licences for a further batch of 39 helicopters, reflecting a wider push for self-sufficiency which has also seen Roketsan deliver new Tayfun batches to the army this year. Turkish Aerospace is meanwhile developing the T925, a domestic heavy utility helicopter able to carry up to 19 passengers, which is scheduled to make its first flight by the end of 2026 and to enter service from 2028.