Turkish Military S-70 Black Hawk Crashes in Malatya, Killing Four Soldiers

This is a developing story. Details may change as the investigation continues.

A Turkish military S-70 Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Malatya province in eastern Türkiye on the evening of November 12, killing the four soldiers on board.

Türkiye's Ministry of National Defense said the helicopter went down "for a reason not yet determined." In a statement it confirmed that all four service members aboard had been killed and offered condolences to their families and the Turkish Armed Forces.

The crash happened at around 18:45 local time near Samanköy in the Yeşilyurt district, just outside the city of Malatya, according to Turkish media. Firefighters, ambulance crews and teams from the disaster agency AFAD were sent to the site and put out a small fire that broke out after the impact. Military and police officials are examining the wreckage.

Local reports say the aircraft belonged to an Army Aviation regiment. The ministry has not yet said which unit operated the helicopter, what mission it was flying or where it was heading, and it has not released the names of the soldiers.

What we know about the aircraft

The S-70 is the export version of Sikorsky's Black Hawk, the same family as the U.S. Army's UH-60. The Turkish Land Forces, the Gendarmerie and other services have flown Black Hawks for more than three decades, and the type is the backbone of Turkish utility and troop-transport helicopter fleets, especially in the mountainous east and southeast of the country.

Türkiye now builds its own version, the T-70, at Turkish Aerospace under licence from Sikorsky, with local engines and avionics work handled by Turkish industry. It is not yet clear whether the helicopter lost in Malatya was an older imported S-70 or a newer locally produced aircraft.

What happens next

Turkish military accidents are investigated by a board appointed by the armed forces, and findings are usually released months later, if at all. Weather, mechanical failure and human error will all be examined. Malatya sits at the edge of the eastern Anatolian highlands, where helicopters routinely operate in rapidly changing conditions in late autumn.

Militrax will update this story as the defense ministry releases more information.