2021 Turkish Air Force Eurocopter AS532 Cougar crash

The 2021 Turkish Air Force Eurocopter AS532 Cougar crash occurred on 4 March 2021, when a Turkish Air Force (TAF) Eurocopter AS532 Cougar, en route to Tatvan District in Bitlis, Turkey, crashed in Bitlis Province. Eleven Turkish servicemen on board were killed in the crash, while two other servicemen survived the crash. Initially, five injured servicemen were hospitalized, though three of them, including Lieutenant General Osman Erbaş, the commander of the 8th Corps, later died of their injuries.

It was the fourth incident in Turkey involving the helicopter model, which have caused the deaths of 39 people, including two high-ranking military officers.

Crash

The Turkish Air Force (TAF) Eurocopter AS532 Cougar took off from Bingöl in eastern Turkey, at 10:55 am GMT. The helicopter was en route to Tatvan in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish-populated Bitlis Province, where the Turkish forces have been combating militants of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union. It lost contact at around 11:25 am GMT. The Turkish Ministry of National Defence (MoD) stated that the helicopter crashed in a rural area near Tatvan. The crash happened in an area blanketed in snow and with visibility hampered by thick clouds in the mountainous region. Locals rushed to the crash site to help the survivors as soon they heard the news of the crash. One of the survivors was partially buried under the wreck and snow.

Initially, eight Turkish servicemen on board were killed in the crash, while five other servicemen were injured. The injured servicemen were immediately hospitalized, though three of them, including the lieutenant general Osman Erbaş, the commander of the 8th Corps, later died of their injuries.