Firefighting helicopter crashes in southwestern Turkey, 5 crew members killed
Firefighting helicopter crashes in southwestern Turkey, 5 crew members killed
09 August 2012
published by www.montrealgazette.com
Turkey–– ANKARA – A firefighting helicopter crashed while battling a wildfire in southwestern Turkey on Thursday, killing all five of its crew members, state-run TRT television and authorities said.
The chopper went down in a deep valley while trying to put out the fire in Mugla province, the Forestry and Water Ministry said.
TRT television said the five crew members who died were two Turks and three Russians. Ali Yildirim, a local forestry official, confirmed that no one survived the crash.
The ministry had leased the helicopter apparently from Russia. It was deployed from a Turkish fire station in the area and operated by Russian and Turkish crew members.