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Four Die In Second Turkish Plane Crash
ANKARA, May 18 (News Agencies) - All four crew members died when a Turkish military cargo plane crashed just after taking off on a test flight near Ankara on Friday, the second crash in three days involving Turkey's Spanish-designed CASA military aircraft.
The plane, carrying two Spanish test pilots and a Spanish and a Turkish engineer, plunged to the ground shortly after take-off from the Akincilar military base outside Ankara, officials said.
The accident came as funeral ceremonies were being held for 34 soldiers who died Wednesday when a plane of the same type came down in the eastern province of Malatya, in what was described as the country's worst military air disaster.
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said: "A very solid, very tight inquiry should be carried out" into the accidents.
The president of CASA, Alberto Fernandez, was expected to arrive late Friday in Turkey, which is one of the company's biggest clients.
"In all likelihood, he will leave as soon as today," a CASA spokesman said, adding that: "What is important now is the families of the victims."
Friday's crash, the third in Turkey involving a CASA plane this year, sparked concerns here over a possible flaw in the aircraft's design and a senior team of Spanish experts were expected in Turkey for a joint probe.
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), which builds the aircraft in partnership with CASA, said the plane that crashed Friday had been "subjected to extraordinary control and tests before flight" following Wednesday's accident.
"Initial investigation has shown that all procedures during the manufacture of the plane were properly applied," it added.
The victims were identified as pilots J.L. Gasco De La Galle, Eugenio Munoz and flight engineer Daniel Haro, all CASA personnel, and Turkish flight engineer Emin Kiran.
TAI head Kaya Ergenc said, "The plane suffered very serious damage. The body was nearly undamaged, but the pilot cabin was almost totally wrecked."
Ergenc said that 17,000 of the plane's parts, which amounted to 95% of the aircraft's body structure, were manufactured in Turkey.
"We take the remaining components such as engine, avionics and radars [from Spain] and integrate them to put the plane together," he told reporters.
Under a joint program with CASA, TAI handed over 50 other CASA cargo planes to the Turkish military between 1991 and 1998.
In January, a CASA plane crashed in the central province of Kayseri, killing all three people aboard.
A retired colonel, who headed flight training in the Turkish army, expressed concern over design flaws.
"The three crashes occurred on different missions and under different circumstances. This leads me to suggest that this plane can have a very serious problem in its command system," he told NTV.
But Ergenc warned that any immediate conclusion would be a speculation.
"Similar incidents happen all over the world. The CASAs crash because we use CASAs. If we had used Boeings, Boeings would have crashed," he said.
"Of course, such incidents coming one after another are not normal... a black scenario... but this can well happen," Ergenc added.
"Like all the planes in the world, the CASA planes have passed through very tough tests envisaged by international norms, which do not allow for the slightest possibility of a security flaw ... But, of course, planes can always suffer technical failures," he said.
Ergenc added that a CASA team, including company president Alberto Fernandez, was expected to arrive late on Friday in Turkey to launch a joint investigation with Turkish counterparts on Saturday.
A statement released by CASA in Spain said that the CN-235 model involved in both crashes was one of the most popular models sold by the company.
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