A Turkish firefighting plane crashed in western Croatia on Thursday, killing the pilot, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumaklı said on Thursday.
The Air Tractor AT-802 disappeared from the radar shortly before 5 p.m. local time, a Croatian Interior Ministry statement said. Some 20 minutes later, emergency services were informed that a plane was on fire near the town of Senj, close to the Adriatic Sea coastline, the statement said.
Rescue teams found the pilot's body after they extinguished the fire, Croatia's HRT public broadcaster said. No one else was on the plane, the report added.
The aircraft was one of two planes belonging to Türkiye's General Directorate of Forestry that left Türkiye on Wednesday morning for maintenance activities in Zagreb but bad weather forced them to stay overnight at an airport in the port city of Rijeka in the west.
They took off for Zagreb airport at 5:38 p.m. (1638 GMT) on Thursday but were forced back, the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry said in a statement.
"As they turned back, one of our aircraft landed at Rijeka airport, but radio contact with the other aircraft was lost at 6:25 p.m.," it said.
Yumaklı confirmed the wreckage had been reached.
"I wish God's mercy upon our martyred pilot, and extend my condolences and patience to his family and loved ones. Condolences to our forestry organization and our nation," the minister wrote on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
Air Tractor AT-802 planes are usually used in agriculture or for firefighting.
The can carry about 3,000 liters of water and are capable of capable of landing and taking off on water.
They can scoop water from seas, lakes, or dams and repeatedly intervene in fire zones in short intervals. They are especially effective in mountainous and difficult terrain.
