A Turkish C-160D aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at the Kayseri 12th Air Transport Base Command in central Turkiye after it experienced a technical malfunction on Thursday morning. The aircraft belongs to the 2th Command of the Main Air Transport Base, according to a recent report. The malfunction occurred during a routine training flight.
A video of the incident was shared to X (formerly Twitter), showing the aircraft flying low over cars and other eyewitnesses as it descended into its emergency landing.
According to a separate report, the aircraft is one of two special mission aircrafts and is in the MilKar-2U configuration for Electronic Warfare radio-frequency jamming systems, and belongs to the 221 Filo Squadron.
The pilot was able to successfully perform an emergency landing back at the base. And no injuries to the pilot or crew occurred, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Damage to the aircraft, however, was reported.
“Our aircraft suffered minor damage,” the Turkish Ministry of Defense said in a statement. “The health of our pilots and crew is good.”
The Turkish Air Force said that the C-160 received slight damage after making its emergency landing, but a video shared to X (formerly Twitter) claims the damage it received was significant. In the video the aircraft appears to make a crash landing.
The aircraft was developed by the French-German syndicate Transport Allianz. It is a twin-engine plane that can carry about 16 tons of freight, 91 passengers, 60 paratroopers, or 62 wounded on stretchers. France retired the aircraft in 2021 while Germany retired theirs a year later. The Turkish Air Force is the last remaining operator of the two C-160D Transall aircrafts.