The number of air accidents in Turkey has increased significantly in recent years, according to a report based on official data which reveals that the country has experienced a record number of plane crashes in the last nine years, causing a total of 86 deaths.
According to data obtained from the Search and Rescue Centre of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, released by numerous Turkish media outlets, Turkey recorded between 2016 and 2024 a total of 87 aviation accidents that caused 86 deaths and 39 injuries, with a total of 745 people rescued; these accidents included runway excursions and on-board fires, as well as collisions on the ground or in the air and also plane crashes.
Within these negative figures, the year 2024 also stands out as the most tragic in terms of the number of plane crashes, with a total of 19 incidents that forced the rescue of 478 people, leaving a total of 16 dead and one injured.
Among these accidents, the collision in the air of two military helicopters in Isparta in December stands out, as well as the fire that broke out in a Russian passenger plane in Antalya in November, forcing the evacuation of all passengers; also, the death in September of two pilots when a private light aircraft crashed near the city of Bursa during a training flight.
Air accidents are also on the increase worldwide
In total, the Search and Rescue Centre recorded the following air accidents in Turkey between 2016 and 2024:
- In 19 air accidents in 2024, 478 people were rescued, 16 people died and 1 person was injured.
- In 8 air accidents in 2023, 8 people were rescued, 2 people died, 6 people were injured and 1 person disappeared.
- In 17 air accidents in 2022, 17 people were rescued, 6 died and 9 were injured.
- In 10 air accidents in 2021, 13 people were rescued, 20 died and 2 were injured.
- In 10 air accidents in 2020 (including that of a Pegasus plane in Istanbul), 191 people were rescued, 11 died and 5 were injured.
- In 6 air accidents in 2019, 3 people were rescued, 7 people died and 3 people were injured.
- In 8 air accidents in 2018, 3 people were rescued, 19 people died and 1 person was injured.
- In 8 air accidents in 2017, 32 people were rescued, 5 people died and 11 people were injured.
- One person was injured in an air accident in 2016.
But it is not only in Turkey that air accidents have increased; worldwide, 2024 was a year marked by an evident increase in plane crashes, which has increased concern about air safety and the saturation of the world’s main air transport routes and airports. The number of fatalities in the major aviation accidents recorded last year – which occurred in South Korea, Brazil, Kazakhstan (with the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane), Nepal, Malawi, Thailand, Iran, Canada, Japan and Singapore – reached 282.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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