This is the heart-stopping moment a fighter jet appears to lose control and flies straight into the crowd at a Turkish air show.
The plane can be seen swinging in the air before the pilot suddenly lifts the nose just before reaching the spectators.
The terrifying incident occurred at the TEKNOFEST airshow in Adana, southern Turkey, on October 3, local media reported.
The near miss is understood to have occurred at the end of a demonstration flight carried out by SoloTurk, Turkey’s aerobatic team, and involved an F-16 fighter jet.
An investigation into the incident has reportedly been launched and experts are examining video recordings of the plane and other flight information.
This is the heart-stopping moment a fighter jet appears to lose control and flies straight into the crowd at a Turkish air show.
The plane can be seen swinging in the air before the pilot suddenly lifts the nose just before reaching the spectators.
It is believed that the F-16 may have suffered a flight control system malfunction that caused an uncontrolled crash to which the pilot reacted.
A former fighter jet pilot said TWZ that the distance between the plane and the ground at its lowest point appeared to be “a small number of wing spans.”
“It could have been that the pilot wanted to do some kind of hesitation turn and actually stopped at 180 degrees, but that still requires you to really exaggerate your speed vector,” the pilot added.
MailOnline has contacted TEKNOFEST for comment.
The SoloTurk F-16 display is one of the most highly regarded on the European circuit and has a strong safety record.
As of March 2023, the team consisted of two pilots, two support staff and nine maintenance staff.
It comes as a Second World War air show pilot died when his plane crashed into the sea in front of horrified onlookers in France in August.
French authorities confirmed that his body was found on the night of August 16 after an intensive search off the coast of Le Lavandou, near Saint Tropez.
The pilot, who was not named, was thought to be flying a Fouga Magister aircraft at the Patrouille de France air show commemorating the 80th anniversary of the landings in Provence in 1944.
The plane can be seen shooting through the sky at high speed before crashing into the water and narrowing avoiding several ships.
French authorities launched an investigation to examine the cause of the accident.
