As
reported by the Associated Press agency, a senior Turkish military commander
says Turkey is retiring its RF-4E Phantom reconnaissance planes.
The
announcement came after two RF-4E reconnaissance airplanes crashed on February
24 during a training exercise in the central province of Malatya, killing all
four crew members.
Combat
Air Force Commander Gen. Abidin Unal told reporters on Wednesday that the
Turkish Air Force had decided to ground the planes as of March 12, retiring
them several months earlier than scheduled.
The
two RF-4E planes crashed into a mountain in Malatya, central Turkey, during night
training exercises on February 24. Nine days later, an F-4E Phantom jet also
crashed, killing its two pilots and raising questions about the safety of
Turkey’s aging fleet.
Unal
said reconnaissance flights would now be carried out by F-16 jets. The more
modern F-16 will take over the task of reconnaissance from the RF-4Es, Abidin
Ünal, a four-star general and commander of the Combatant Air Force, told
members of the press on Wednesday.
http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/turkey-retire-rf-4e-fleet-crashes.html
No comments:
Post a Comment