Ignorance of the local microclimate is the most likely cause of the crash of the Turkish plane, according to experienced pilot Nijaz Delić from Pula, who himself has flown the plane several times in the territory of Turkey. That’s why he knows that the fog, especially this thick as can be seen in the Croatian mountain areas, is practically unknown to the Turks. The area of Gorski kotar or Velebit is a kind of black spot when the river about aviation accidents. This has been shown by cases from previous years in which several people died, and the cause is most often precisely the harsh weather conditions that are impossible to overcome even by the pilots who are technically the most experienced.
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Turkish air tractor found near Senj in flames. They also found the body of the pilot. The second landed on Krk
– I know that on the day of the plane crash, the weather conditions were good in that there was no wind and storm, which is the worst thing for us pilots. But the visibility was very poor and I think that the Turkish pilot did not expect thick fog because, regardless of his experience and piloting skills, he is unfamiliar with such weather conditions. And as soon as the plane entered that fog, the disaster loomed. half happened – tells us Nijaz Delić and adds that, in his opinion, it was not a technical failure or a flight control error, but the pilot’s unpreparedness for the local microclimate conditions.
Every region has them, and it is always, by chance, possible for a pilot to have an accident precisely because he does not know them, regardless of his piloting experience. That’s how Nijaz Delić reminded of a case from ten years ago when the situation was reversed – two similar agricultural planes were bought in Turkey and two Croatian pilots went there to bring them to our country. They were extremely good pilots, said Delić, but they did not know the climatic conditions in Turkey, and they were additionally deceived by the navigation, because Turkey largely has a monotonous, almost desert terrain without vegetation, in which it is difficult to orientate.
– Our pilots got lost in Turkey because of everything and had to make a forced landing. One was slightly injured, and the other seriously, because of which he is still disabled today – Deli tells us, who knows both of these pilots.
How challenging the area of Gorski kotar or Velebit is is shown by the series of plane accidents that happened there.
Dutch plane crashed near Josipdol
A small Cirrus SR20 sports plane crashed two years ago on the Mali Makovnik hill near Josipdol. It was a Dutch plane with three people on board. The witnesses explained that the plane flew very low and that it made a strange sound.
Then he crashed into the forest, and the rescue services were immediately alerted. They reached the plane, but unfortunately there were no survivors. The wreckage was burned.
Č four killed near Rakovica
Three years ago, the fall of a Cessna 182 in the forest on the hill in Brovac in the area of Rakovica claimed four lives. A pilot from Switzerland, two German citizens and a man from Split were killed.
The plane took off from Split, but when it came back, the weather conditions worsened considerably. As a result, the pilot lost control of the plane, which then crashed. It also turned out that the pilot was not trained enough to fly in difficult weather conditions.
cessan is Velebic
A small Cessna 303 plane crashed on Velebit in 2009. Four people were in it, unfortunately, they all died. They found the plane in the garden of Smrčevac near Vagan at 1400 meters above sea level. The search lasted six days.
Hungarians killed near Plitvice
On August 13, 2005, the Zlin 142 sports plane crashed in Plitvice, and two Hungarian citizens were killed in that accident. The most likely cause of the crash was pilot error. They left in a group of eight planes. Due to bad weather conditions, five of them landed in Zemunik, two near Drniš, and one fell.
Two MIGs also fell near Slunj
Two military planes crashed on September 23, 2010, during an exercise. The cause of the crash was the collision of two MIGs, the Ministry of Defense confirmed later. They also said that the planes did not collide due to a malfunction butć for the following three reasons: incorrect assessment of meteorological conditions, because the pilots did not follow the procedures during the exercise and because they did not follow the procedures after the exercise.
Both pilots managed to eject and land. They had minor injuries. The fragments of the plane also injured a woman who was digging potatoes in the field.
The pilot of the paraglider was killed
A paraglider crashed above Tribalj in Primorje in April 2020. It happened directly below the airstrip for paragliders, and the pilot of the aircraft was killed in this accident. The cause of the paraglider’s fall was the closing of its dome at a low altitude, during which the pilot did not have enough time to stabilize the flight or activate the reserve parachute.
Landed on the highway in Gorski kotar
In August 2019, a Cessna flew from Luč to Vrsar, but above Vrbovsko, the plane’s engine started working irregularly and losing power. Because of this, he had to make a forced landing on the A6 highway in the direction of Rijeka, just before the Ravna Gora exit.
A small sports plane made a forced landing on the A6 highway |
Fortunately, there were no injuries in this accident. Evidence showed that its cause was a failure of the Cessna’s engine throttle.
Polish plane crashed near Karlovac
In 2010, a small Polish plane took off from the airport in Hungary towards Italy, but it crashed over Croatia. Two bodies and the remains of a Polish sports plane were found about 1.5 km from the state road D1 near Buda Rijeka. It was a wordč is about a two-seater that was initially declared missing, so all the services went in search. Two Poles died in this accident, one of whom was a flight instructor.
A series of aviation accidents in the rest of Croatia
In March 2023, a married couple from Germany died when their small plane crashed while taking off from the Pula airport. It fell approximately 50 meters from the runway, and after the fall the cabin of the aircraft exploded and then quickly burned. Firefighters immediately rushed to help, but the unfortunate people could not be saved. It was established that the cause of the accident was the so-called overshooting of the aircraft during take-off, that is, that the aircraft did not reach sufficient speed for take-off.
Fortunately, no one was killed when the Cessna crashed on the island of Bra&ccaron in June 2022. There were three passengers in it, a Croat and an Austrian, who were hospitalized in KBC Split after the accident. The plane crashed on the southern side of the island, on inaccessible terrain. The investigation determined that the immediate cause of the accident was the loss of buoyancy due to reduced air speed and an increased angle of climb.
A sports plane with German license plates crashed into the sea in the Hvar channel in June 2019. The pilot, a German citizen, suffered only minor injuries in the accident. After the plane crashed, the pilot was rescued by tourists with a yacht who happened to be nearby. The accident happened when the German lost control of the aircraft.
The MIG 21 military plane crashed in December 2022 over Voćin, but both pilots managed to eject before the plane crashed. In the emergency call, they announced the ejection due to engine problems. After the accident, one pilot suffered minor injuries, while the other was successfully operated on. And the investigation later showed that the cause of the accident was an engine failure.
A terrible accident happened in August 2017 when a sailboat with two trains fell on Kamešnica. Both were transferred to the Split hospital, but unfortunately one of them, the young man, died. a 16-year-old who learned to fly, died in the hospital due to the severity of his injuries. The other, a flight instructor, received minor injuries. The investigation determined that the meteorological factor most likely played a key role in this accident.
According to the official report, the immediate cause was the sudden and uncontrolled loss of height of the glider.
In July 2018, all crew members survived the crash when landing a Cessna 182L Skyline on the runway near Dubrovnik. It was a private plane that flew to Dubrovnik from Graz. The investigation showed that shortly before touching the runway, the pilot decided to abort the landing and repeat the approach, because after an unexpected strong gust of wind, the plane was unable to maintain the optimal approach path. It began to turn to the right, after which the plane lost altitude and fell on the outside of the airport fence.