2009 Medair Bell 206 crash

Aviation accident in Turkey 2009 Medair TC-HEK helicopter crash Accident Bell 206L-4 LongRanger IV, Minuteman Aviation AN0268410.jpg 1.15 A Bell 206L-4 LongRanger similar to the one involved in the incident. March 25, 2009 March 25, 2009 Controlled flight into terrain Mazı İzzet Günebakan Adsız Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu'nun ölümüne ilişkin soruşturmada yeni raporlar bekleniyor https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/gundem/muhsin-yazicioglunun-olumune-iliskin-sorusturmada-yeni-raporlar-bekleniyor/3173950 Anadolu Ajansı 25 March 2024 tr Mount Keş, Göksun Kahramanmaraş, Turkey 37 52 12 N 36 40 12 E type:event inline,title Bell 206L-4 LongRanger Medair TC-HEK Sivas Çağlayancerit, Kahramanmaraş Yerköy, Yozgat 6 5 1 6 0 A Bell 206L-4 LongRanger helicopter, tail number TC-HEK, operated by Medair while on a charter flight en route from Çağlayancerit in Kahramanmaraş Province to Yerköy in Yozgat Province, crashed on March 25, 2009, at around 16:00 EET (14:00 UTC) when it struck Mount Keş in central Turkey. The pilot and four passengers, including the leader of the Great Union Party (BBP) Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, were killed in the accident. Only one passenger survived the crash with injuries and made an emergency call. Due to harsh weather conditions at the crash site, the victims and the wreckage could be recovered only after two days, and the injured passenger was found dead under snow five days later. Flight history The helicopter was chartered by the local leaders of a minor political party, the Great Unity Party (tr Büyük Birlik Partisi), to enable their party leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu to attend political rallies held on the same day in neighboring provinces as part of the campaign for the 2009 local elections. Accompanied by his party's three local leaders from Sivas Province and a news agency reporter, Yazıcıoğlu arrived in Çağlayancerit on March 25, 2009, at 13:00 EET (11:00 UCT) by helicopter, to make a speech. He told the crowd of 1,500 people gathered in the town square that it was the first time his party had chartered a helicopter, and this without any financial support from the state treasury.http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalDetay&ArticleID=927959&Date=26.03.2009&CategoryID=77 Radikal Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu'nun helikopteri düştü March 26, 2009 Turkish March 29, 2009 As the rally in Çağlayancerit was going on, the helicopter was refueled at 13:30 local time at the Kahramanmaraş Airport. Piloted by Kaya İstektepe and carrying five passengers, it then lifted off at 14:42 to head for Yerköy, where Yazıcıoğlu had his next speech scheduled at 17:00. The helicopter did not arrive, and the crowd of 3,000 people gathered in the Station Square (tr İstasyon Meydanı) in Yerköy became worried. A short time later, the deputy leader of the BBP made the announcement that the helicopter carrying Yazıcıoğlu and his party members was missing. Aircraft The helicopter, a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger with tail number TC-HEK, was produced in 1999. In 2008, it joined the fleet of Medair, a subsidiary company of Esas Holding based in Istanbul. The aircraft had seven-seat capacity for five passengers in addition to two pilots. Powered by one Allison 250-C30P engine, it could remain airborne for two-and-half hours with a maximum range of 508 km nmi on and a maximum speed of 234 km/h mph on. Crash and rescue operation Turkey 1 Location of the flight route right 300 Turkey 39.7500 37.0167 right Sivas 80 6 Turkey 37.7500 37.3000 right Çağlayancerit 80 6 Turkey 37.8687 36.6687 left Crash site 80 6 Cross.svg Turkey 39.6333 34.4667 left Yerköy 80 6 As no direct contact with the helicopter could be established, search activities were initiated. At 16:10 local time one of the passengers, İsmail Güneş, a reporter for the Ihlas News Agency from Sivas, called the 112 emergency service from his mobile phone and said that "the helicopter he was onboard had crashed, he was injured with a broken leg and no one else, as he could see, had survived." After he added that "the battery of his mobile was running out, and he was about to die," then his phone went silent.https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032700994.html The Washington Post Turkish party leader killed in helicopter crash Hacaoğlu, Selcan March 27, 2009 April 4, 2009 June 2021 medicmedic He was unable to give any further information about the location of the crash site.http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalDetay&ArticleID=928072&CategoryID=77 Radikal Yazıcıoğlu'nu 3 bin kişi 11 helikopter arıyor Kaya, Ahmet a.o. March 26, 2009 Turkish April 1, 2009 http://www.thestate.com/134/story/727867.html The State Turkey crash survivor begs for help Torchia, Christopher March 26, 2009 April 4, 2009 October 2010 H3llBot In order to locate the crash site, the GSM operator providing Güneş's mobile phone service was contacted. The calculated geographical coordinates determined the crash site was Mount Berit in the vicinity of Hacıömer and Sisne villages, around 20 km mi on northeast of the town of Göksun in Kahramanmaraş Province. At 17:00 hours, search and rescue (SAR) teams were deployed on land and by air. Minister of Transport Binali Yıldırım said that "the rescuers were receiving signals from the mobile phones in the accident area, and they are trying to locate whereabouts of the crash."http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/03/25/turkey.helicopter.crash/index.html https://archive.today/20120707183127/http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/03/25/turkey.helicopter.crash/index.html dead July 7, 2012 CNN World Turkish ultra-nationalist in chopper crash ahead of election Watson, Ivan March 25, 2009 April 4, 2009 State emergency management officials reported that two military special operations teams of the natural disaster rescue battalion (12 personnel each), civil defense SAR teams from Kahramanmaraş (129 personnel, 17 vehicles) and Adana (27 personnel, 8 vehicles and a SAR dog), a gendarmerie unit consisting of 345 personnel, 897 village guards and 60 volunteers of a disaster assistance and rescue team (tr AKUT) headed for the crash site on land, while two military Sikorsky helicopters equipped with night vision devices, one CASA aircraft of the Turkish Air Force, one police H-60 and one air ambulance helicopter joined the search efforts by air.http://english.sabah.com.tr/8A94FD3A79284DD08D3CDCBE17A3DB8E.html Sabah Yazicioglu is lost in the mountains April 4, 2009 June 2016 medicmedichttp://www.haber7.com/haber/20090325/Muhsin-Yazicioglunun-helikopteri-dustu.php Haber 7 Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu'nun helikopteri düştü March 25, 2009 Turkish April 4, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090328063724/http://www.haber7.com/haber/20090325/Muhsin-Yazicioglunun-helikopteri-dustu.php 2009-03-28 dead Teams of the gendarmerie and the Turkish Road Administration were engaged in opening roadways in the mountainous area under harsh weather conditions, where the temperature fell to -5 °C °F after midnight. The search operation in the region, at an elevation of around 2000 m ft on, was hampered by fog, snowstorms and 2 m ft on of snow on the ground. The search efforts, concentrated around Kurucaova village and the foothills of Mount Kaman during the night, were suspended at 04:00 local time, but resumed at 05:30 hours with the sunrise. At around 06:00, the search teams found a group of 22 volunteers in danger of freezing and rescued them. Minister of Interior Beşir Atalay rushed to the region and set up headquarters in the nearby village of Kızılöz to coordinate the SAR activities. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also traveled to Kahramanmaraş to monitor the SAR activities. Recovery 47 hours after the crash, on March 27, a group of 17 volunteers and village guardshttp://www.radikal.com.tr/Default.aspx?aType=RadikalHaberDetay&Date=29.03.2009&ArticleID=928502 Radikal Yazıcıoğlu ve dört arkadaşı bulundu, muhabir aranıyor March 29, 2009 Turkish April 1, 2009 from the villages of Kurucuova and Döngel southeast of Göksun discovered the wreckage amid a snowstorm as they were returning home from a search. The crash site was situated close to the snow-covered summit of Mount Keş in the region of Sisne and Elmalı, about four walking hours from Döngel village.http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2009/03/27//haber,E676CB5C7A8D42AA9A0034E539AECAA4.html Sabah 6 kişinin de cenazesine ulaşıldı March 27, 2009 Turkish April 4, 2009 The area was not within the official search zone. The villagers called the authorities by phone from the crash site and stated that, "they found five victims dead, two of them inside the helicopter's wreckage. They were unable to identify Yazıcıoğlu since the corpses were frozen beyond recognition. The aircraft's fuselage was broken into pieces while the tail was almost intact. They searched for the sixth victim around the wreckage without success." They added that "the crash site was located in an inaccessible area and could better be reached by means of helicopter."http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/11302582.asp?gid=244 Hürriyet Six including far-right Turkish party leader killed in helicopter crash April 5, 2009 Officials redirected the rescuers to the area where the wreckage was found. The next day, now three days after the crash, rescue teams reached the bodies of the five victims: pilot Kaya İstektepe, BBP leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, BBP chairman of Sivas Province Erhan Üstündağ, his deputy Yüksel Yağcı, and Sivas city council candidate Murat Çetinkaya,http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=171348 Today's Zaman Investigation finds helicopter's ELT deactivated by impact of crash April 3, 2009 April 4, 2009 November 2010 H3llBot and transported them by helicopters to the State Hospital in Kahramanmaraş. The search for the sixth passenger continued, but with little hope of finding him alive.http://www.trt.com.tr/International/newsDetail.aspx?HaberKodu=d902a835-d263-4459-9ad2-65f74255a661 TRT World 6 died in the helicopter crash March 28, 2009 April 4, 2009 During the SAR operation, a Sikorsky military helicopter made an emergency landing in the region due to bad weather conditions and became stuck in snow. There were no casualties in the accident.http://en.dunyabulteni.net/news_detail.php?id=39037 Dünya Rescue copter crashes searching for Yazicioglu: Turkish media March 28, 2009 April 4, 2009 September 2018 InternetArchiveBot yes Special operations SAR teams of the gendarmerie finally recovered the body of the 34-year-old reporter İsmail Güneş on March 30, five days after the accident, covered by snow between two rocks around 500 m ft east of the crash site. He had eventually freed himself from the wreckage, where his foot had been wedged, and slid downhill with the help of a seat from the aircraft to seek shelter under a tree beside a rock at Karayakup hill.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29892604/ msnbc Body of survivor who called for help is found Hacaoğlu, Selcan March 30, 2009 April 4, 2009 August 2024 medicmedichttp://www.cnnturk.com/2009/turkiye/03/30/iha.muhabirinin.de.cesedi.bulundu/520129.0/index.html CNN Türk İHA muhabirinin de cesedi bulundu March 31, 2009 Turkish April 4, 2009 Güneş's corpse was flown to the State Hospital in Kahramanmaraş, where four forensic experts from Adana conducted an autopsy and found that he had broken his left ankle and two ribs, and the reason for his death was exposure to cold weather. Investigation An investigation team of the Turkish Civil Aviation Authority (tr Sivil Havacılık Genel Müdürlüğü) stated that the crashed helicopter was equipped with an emergency locater transmitter (ELT), contrary to claims that the aircraft lacked one or that it was not functioning. The ELT was not able to send sufficiently strong signals because its antenna had been broken in the crash. The CEO of the holding company affiliated with Medair, Ali Sabancı, said that the helicopter was regularly maintained and the ELT device was installed one week before the accident. The investigation team revealed as its first findings that the helicopter, while cruising at an altitude of about 1,000-1,500 ft (300–460 m), hit the mountain because of bad weather conditions and fog. The fuselage broke into pieces, and some of the parts spread over an area up to 50 m ft from the impact point. In later statements regarding the ongoing legal process, lawyer Ekici noted that the investigation had been reopened to examine several unresolved issues, including earlier findings on carbon monoxide levels and newly requested analyses of regional air traffic. Ekici stated that the Kahramanmaraş Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had accepted their request to reassess claims concerning three jets reported to have been present in the area at the time of the crash, and to determine whether these aircraft could have played a role in downing the helicopter carrying Yazıcıoğlu and his companions. He emphasized that a new report on air movements (“hava hareketliliği”) was being prepared as part of this expanded review, expressing hope that the forthcoming documents would support their contention that Yazıcıoğlu and the others had been deliberately killed. Ekici reiterated that the legal team, the family, and Yazıcıoğlu's supporters intended to pursue the case to its conclusion. Mazı İzzet Günebakan Adsız Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu'nun ölümüne ilişkin soruşturmada yeni raporlar bekleniyor https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/gundem/muhsin-yazicioglunun-olumune-iliskin-sorusturmada-yeni-raporlar-bekleniyor/3173950 Anadolu Ajansı 25 March 2024 tr Aftermath Out of respect for the BBP leader Yazıcıoğlu's death, all the political parties cancelled their rallies ahead of the local elections.http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/11299943.asp Hürriyet Mitingler iptal Tüfekçi, Hasan March 27, 2009 Turkish April 5, 2009 After the local elections of March 29, the BBP unexpectedly won the seat of mayor in Sivas Province.http://www.milliyet.com.tr/Siyaset/SonDakika.aspx?aType=SonDakika&ArticleID=1077226&Date=30.03.2009&Kategori=siyaset&b=Sivastaki%20secimi%20kazanan%20BBPde%20buruk%20sevinc Milliyet Sivas'taki seçimi kazanan BBP'de buruk sevinç March 30, 2009 Turkish April 5, 2009 In a press conference, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his appreciation to the rescue teams for their efforts despite adverse weather conditions at the crash site, and announced initiation of an official investigation into a possible failure of the authorities regarding the length of time the SAR operation had taken. References 2 Helicopter crash in Turkey kills six Medair TC-HEP helicopter crash Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Turkey Medair TC-HEP helicopter crash Category:History of Kahramanmaraş Medair Category:March 2009 in Turkey Category:2009 disasters in Turkey Category:Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu