Kızılada, aka Kızıl Ada, anciently Lagusa or Lagousa ( grc, Λάγουσα), or Lagussa or Lagoussa (), is a Turkish island in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

situated in the Fethiye Bay, southwestern Turkey. It is off the coast of

Fethiye Fethiye () is a city and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. It is one of the prominent tourist destinations in the Turkish Riviera. In 2019 its population was 162,686. History Fethiye was formerly known as Makri (). ...

district in

Muğla Province Muğla Province ( tr, , ) is a province of Turkey, at the country's south-western corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its seat is Muğla, about inland, while some of Turkey's largest holiday resorts, such as Bodrum, Ölüdeniz, Marmaris and Fethiye, ...

. The island hosts also the 19-century Kızılada Lighthouse on its southern point, which was redeveloped into a

seafood restaurant A seafood restaurant is a restaurant that specializes in seafood cuisine and seafood dishes, such as fish and shellfish. Dishes may include freshwater fish. The concept may focus upon the preparation and service of fresh seafood, (as oppose ...

in 2007 and a hostel with nine rooms in 2008. Kızılada is a popular stopover for boat tours around Fethiye.

Aviation accident

In the early hours of August 3, 1953,

Air France Flight 152 Air France Flight 152 (AF152) was a scheduled international passenger flight which made an emergency water landing in the Mediterranean Sea, off Fethiye, South-Western Turkey on 3 August 1953. The aircraft sank over an hour after ditching. Four ...

en route

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy made an emergency

water landing In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on the water s ...

in the

Gulf of Fethiye The Gulf of Fethiye ( tr, Fethiye Körfezi) is a branch of the Mediterranean Sea in southwestern Turkey. The cities Fethiye and Göcek of Muğla Province are situated around the gulf. It is bounded on the west by Cape Kurdoğlu ( tr, Kurtoğlu B ...

off the island after losing an engine in-flight. With the help of the keeper Mustafa Pehlivan of the Kızılada Lighthouse, customs officials and fishermen, 38 people of the 8 aircrew and 34 passengers on board of the aircraft of type

Lockheed L-749A Constellation The Lockheed L-749 Constellation is the first Lockheed Constellation to regularly cross the Atlantic Ocean non-stop. Although similar in appearance to the L-649 before it, the L-749 had a larger fuel capacity, strengthened landing gear, and even ...

survived the accident while four elderly passengers died by drowning. The location of the aircraft's wreck underwater remains still unknown.

Forestry

Named after its reddish-brown ( tr, kızıl) appearance, the island was forested again in 2014 with about 5,000 saplings of Turkish pine (''

Pinus brutia ''Pinus brutia'', commonly known as the Turkish pine, is a species of pine native to the eastern Mediterranean region. The bulk of its range is in Turkey. Turkish pine is also known by several other common names: Calabrian pine (from a naturali ...

''), laurel (''

Laurus nobilis ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cooking. ...

''), carob (''

Ceratonia siliqua The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit pods, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and lands ...

'') and Turkish sweetgum ('' Liquidambar orientalis''). After plantation, the saplings were treated with banishing chemicals to protect them from

wild goat The wild goat (''Capra aegagrus'') is a wild goat species, inhabiting forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. It has been listed as near threate ...

(''Capra aegagrus'') and hare (''Lepus'') living on the island. The forested area makes out around 40% of the island, which is covered by scrub vegetation.

References

Islands of Turkey Mediterranean islands Turkish Riviera Tourist attractions in Muğla Province Islands of Muğla Province Fethiye {{Muğla-geo-stub