Syrian Pilot Whose Plane Crashed in Turkey Found by Rescue Team: Hospital
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Syrian air force pilot who bailed out as his warplane crashed on Turkish territory has been found by a Turkish rescue team and is being treated at a hospital in the Hatay region, a hospital spokeswoman said on Sunday.
The pilot, who crashed his plane on Sunday, had been found around 40 km (25 miles) from the wreckage. He was first taken to a gendarmerie base and then to hospital.
The hospital spokeswoman gave no details of his condition, Reuters reported.
Syrian state television quoted an army source on Saturday saying the air force had lost contact with a fighter jet on a mission near the Turkish border. It gave no details.
It was unclear why the aircraft had crashed, whether it had been attacked or suffered technical failure.
Combat operations by many Syrian army forces come close to Turkey's long frontier with Syria.
Turkey has been one of the foremost critics of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and supports terrorists fighting him in the country's six-year-old war. It currently has armed forces involved in operations along the Syrian side of the frontier.
Syrian media said on Saturday its forces had been expanding control over former Daesh-held villages in northwest Syria, an area close to Turkey's Hatay region where the aircraft crashed.
