On 22 June 2012, a Turkish McDonnell Douglas RF-4E Phantom II reconnaissance jet was intercepted and shot down by the Syrian Army in international airspace, after having violated Syrian airspace."Assad regrets downing of Turkish jet, says won’t allow open combat with Ankara"
Al Arabiya News, 3 July 2012. Retrieved: 3 July 2012. The jet's pilots were killed; both Turkish and Syrian forces searched for them before recovering their bodies in early July. The incident was part of a series of incidents between Turkey and Syria since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War and greatly escalated the tensions between the two countries.

Background

Syria–Turkey relations were already marred by the Turkish pilgrim bus attack. Also, on 9 April 2012, the Syrian envoy to Turkey was summoned after Syrian forces fired across the Syria–Turkey border. At least two people were killed and many others injured in the incident.

Event

The reconnaissance aircraft of type RF-4E belonged to the 173rd Wing at the 7th Main Jet Base Group Command stationed at the Erhaç Air Base in

Malatya Malatya (; ; Syriac language, Syriac ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city has been a human settlement for thousands of y ...

. The aircraft, piloted by Flight lieutenant Gökhan Ertan and Flying officer Hasan Hüseyin Aksoy, took off on 22 June 2012 with the task to help test the Turkish radar system. According to radar records, the aircraft was flying between

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and

Hatay Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, ...

over 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

at about FL210, an altitude of , at 11:06 hours local time (08:06 UTC). For radar test purposes, it descended as it approached Hatay. At 11:14 hours, the RF-4E was at FL086, and nine minutes later it had descended to FL075 just over Hatay. At 11:23 hours, the aircraft changed its course, heading now for Mediterranean Sea and continued to descend. At 11:37, it had reached FL020 and was descending further for radar test purposes. The aircraft arrived at 11:42 on the boundary of Syrian sovereign airspace, out from the coastline, flying at 200 ft. At this point, the aircraft violated Syrian airspace, and flew around for five minutes within its airspace. A Turkish radar base controlling the flight warned the RF-4E to change its course immediately and leave that airspace. At 11:47, it left Syrian airspace and took a northerly course in the direction of Hatay, ascending to FL030. During the airspace violation and afterwards, the aircraft received no warning or admonishment from Syrian military authorities. The pilots changed their course once again into the Mediterranean Sea to proceed with their mission of radar testing. At 11:50, the pilots asked the Turkish radar base for assistance on route information, so that they would not violate Syrian airspace again. The aircraft was flying in international airspace and visible on radar screens until 12:02. The RF-4E was struck by a Syrian

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

off the coast. The aircrew may have been alerted to a missile approaching and attempted unsuccessfully to evade. It was the first time that any variant of the F-4 had been shot down since the

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Aftermath

The navies of Turkey and Syria searched for the missing aircraft and crew. United States research vessel EV ''Nautilus'' arrived three days later at the crash site to join the search and rescue operations. Her two remotely operated vehicles ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'' and '' Argus'' conducted search at the seabed in depth and located the debris of the aircraft, and brought parts of the downed jet up to the surface. The bodies of the pilots were brought up with the ship's crane by Turkish divers in a 45-minute operation on 4 July 2012. The Syrian military alleged that the fighter aircraft had violated Syrian airspace. Turkish president Abdullah Gül and other spokesmen did not confirm this, though Gül said that "it is routine for jet fighters to sometimes fly in and out over ationalborders". Gül stated that "it is not possible to cover over a thing like this. Whatever is necessary will no doubt be done." A Turkish political party leader claimed that the jet had been shot down by a Russian warship, and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç also claimed that it was hit by a laser-guided or heat-seeking missile, not anti-aircraft fire as the Syrian Government claimed.DSP leader: Russia downed jet with new-generation missile
. Todayszaman.com (10 August 2012). On 3 July 2012, the Syrian President said that he regretted the incident and would not allow any open conflict with Turkey. The change in Turkey's policy towards Syrian attacks led to a series of border clashes in October.

References

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Syria 21st-century aircraft shootdown incidents Turkish military scandals 2012 disasters in Turkey 2012 disasters in Syria Accidents and incidents involving military aircraft Aircraft shootdown incidents Aviation accidents and incidents in 2012 Aviation accidents and incidents in Syria Aviation accidents and incidents in Turkey Syrian Air Force involvement in the Syrian civil war Turkish Air Force involvement in the Syrian civil war F-4 Phantom Syria–Turkey relations Air-to-air combat operations and battles June 2012 in Syria June 2012 in Turkey

Background

Event

Aftermath

See also

References