In a tragic accident at Yenişehir Airport in Bursa, northwestern Türkiye, two pilots lost their lives when a training aircraft crashed. The incident involved a two-seater training plane from a private flight school.
The Bursa Governor's Office confirmed that both pilots died at the scene, and a judicial and administrative investigation is underway to determine the cause of the crash. The victims were identified as instructor pilot Ünal Aster, 61, and trainee instructor pilot Emir Gülal Nalcı, 42.
The crash reportedly occurred during a "touch and go" training session, a maneuver where a plane lands on the runway and takes off again without coming to a full stop. The aircraft, registered as TC-UDI and owned by Fenix Aviation, experienced trouble when its left wing struck the runway while attempting an emergency landing on Runway 07, causing the plane to overturn.
Rescue teams, including fire and ambulance services, were dispatched to the scene, but both pilots were pronounced dead on-site. The plane’s nose sustained significant damage, and investigators are awaiting the results of an expert report and final communications with the control tower to clarify the exact cause of the crash.
If the wheels of the plane do not touch the ground, it is called a "low pass." Both a touch-and-go landing and a low pass are forms of go-arounds. An unplanned touch-and-go landing is also referred to as a "rejected landing" or "balked landing." In landings where there isn't enough space for a full stop but enough to accelerate and take off again, touch-and-go landings play a critical safety role.
