ZAGREB, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) — A Turkish Air Tractor AT-802F on a circular flight in Croatia crashed Thursday in the town of Krivi Put in the country’s west, killing the pilot, the sole person on board, local media reported.
The aircraft went down at around 5 p.m. local time (1600 GMT). Rescuers reached the remote crash site about an hour later and found the plane engulfed in flames, Croatian Radiotelevision said. After extinguishing the fire, emergency teams discovered the pilot’s burned body.
The aircraft had reportedly been flying from Rijeka on Croatia’s west coast to the Aeronautical Technical Center in Zagreb before returning toward Rijeka. According to Croatian media, the air tractor belonged to the Turkish company Orman Genel Mudurlugu and was operated by Türkiye’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. It remains unclear why the Turkish aircraft was flying in Croatia.
Croatian media reported that two Turkish air tractors departed from Rijeka for Zagreb on Thursday, but thick fog forced both to turn back. One of them, Flight OR2024, landed safely at Rijeka’s airport on Krk Island, while the other, Flight OR2025, crashed.
Croatia’s Ministry of Defense said no Croatian Air Force aircraft were involved in the incident.
Police have cordoned off the area, and an investigation into the cause of the crash will continue on Friday, the Civil Protection Directorate said.
