1962 Taurus Mountains Turkish Airlines F-27 crash

On 8 March 1962, a Fairchild F-27 of Turkish Airlines crashed into Mount Medetsiz in the Taurus Mountains range while en route from Ankara Esenboğa Airport to Adana Airport, killing all eight passengers and three crew members on board. The flight took an unusual route directly through the mountain range and encountered cumulus clouds during descend into Adana, causing the flight crew to navigate around them. It is believed that the pilots lost track of their location and altitude while doing so, causing the plane to crash into the bottom of an abyss in the mountains. The location of the wreckage and harsh weather conditions prevented the rescue team from reaching the accident site before 11 March.

Accident

The flight originated from Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport and was heading to Adana Airport with a stopover at Ankara Esenboğa Airport. The aircraft took off from Ankara for the second leg of the flight at 16:28 local time (14:28 GMT) without taking any new passengers.

Civilian flights from Ankara to Adana would usually take a western detour via Konya and Silifke to avoid the Taurus Mountains. However, the flight crew started heading directly towards Adana, a flight path which was only reserved for military aircraft. At 17:28, the pilots contacted the controller at the Incirlik Air Base to report that they were at an altitude of 17500 ft and requested clearance to approach Adana. They also told that they were flying around cumulus clouds and changing their altitude accordingly to avoid turbulence. The controller cleared the aircraft to descend to 5000 ft and told the pilots to notify the tower when passing through 8000 ft and 7000 ft. No further communication was received from the aircraft.

The aircraft crashed at 17:43 local time at 6800 ft above sea level into Mount Medetsiz, around 47 nmi from the airport. The wreckage was located at the bottom of a deep abyss near the villages of Madenköy and Gümüşköy, Ulukışla in the Ulukışla District of Niğde, scattered around a large area. The aircraft split into three main pieces upon impact.