A Turkish F-16 fighter jet crashed during an accident as part of a flight mission on Wednesday morning, Balikesir Governor Ismail Ustaoglu confirmed. The pilot was killed in the incident.
The jet belonged to the Balikesir 9th Main Jet Base Command, and the accident occured at around 12:50 a.m., Turkish state broadcaster TRT announced.
The aircraft went down shortly after takeoff, Ustaoglu said, with the cause of the accident under investigation by the Turkish Defense Ministry, TRT noted.
Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced that the Balikesir prosecutor's office is also launching an investigation into the incident.
Fighter jet crash closes major highway in western Turkey
The incident caused a section of the major highway between Istanbul and Izmir to be temporarily closed due to damage and debris from the crash in the Naipli area of Karesi province, approximately halfway between the two major cities, TRT reported.
The Defense Ministry identified the pilot as Major Ibrahim Bolat.