News websites are reporting that a Turkish Sikorsky (Black Hawk?) has come down in bad weather on Herekol mountain, in the Pervari district of Siirt province (southeastern Turkey). It was carrying members of gendarmerie special forces whilst on operations against Kurdish rebels. All 17 people on board died in the crash.
The Turkish military has opened an investigation into the incident which is said to have taken place in thick fog.
[Read also: U.S. Predator spy drone shot down by Kurd rebels in Turkey, near Iraq]
The helicopter is thought to have clipped a rocky outcrop whist trying to ferry the troops to Pervari, where the Turkish army has been flushing out the rebels. It is the second crash in a month involving Turkish helicopters when another crashed in Diyarbakir province after it hit power lines killing one and wounding seven.
Richard Clements for TheAviationist.com
Image credit: Cpl John Bradley, NCE Photographer
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