Close call: two Turkish Air Force NF-5 jets almost collide during aerobatic display

Two NF-5s belonging to the Turkish aerobatics team, Turkish Stars, almost collided over Konya, during a display practice.

Filmed in 2009, the following video shows two NF-5 of the Turkish Air Force aerobatic team “Turkish Stars” coming quite close to collide mid-air during a display practice over Konya airbase, the homebase of the famous Anatolian Eagle exercise.

According to the user who uploaded the video to Liveleak, Major Evren Ayna, the pilot who was flying inverted, describes the moment in these words:

“Every job has its own risks. Of course, you can’t always be prepared for everything. But having good reflexes is good and expecting the unexpected saves lives. This video is a proof that this kind of things is not fun and games. It shows our effort and self-sacrifice. This video was taken in 2009, during a training session in Konya. My plane suffers a mechanical failure and we cheat death. I’m the one in inverted flight. :)”

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.