Footage from the crash site of the Syrian Air Force L-39 aircraft, shot down by Turkish forces.
According to preliminary data, the second pilot managed to take refuge in the territory controlled by government forces.
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According to a report from the nearby Hama Governorate, the Turkish military opened fire on the Syrian L-39 jet from its own border, forcing the pilot to eject and the aircraft to crash.Shortly after, the official Twitter account of the Turkish Defense Ministry tweeted that an L-39 fighter had been downed by Turkish forces over Idlib during the ongoing ‘Operation Spring Shield’.
Turkish media reported that the plane was downed by a Turkish F-16 jet. It’s not clear whether the aircraft had to violate Syria’s airspace to fire on the Syrian plane.
The Syrian Arab Air Force is known to operate a number of armed L-39 light attack aircraft, with the twin-seater Czechoslovakian-made jets traditionally used as trainer aircraft. Syria has used these aircraft extensively against jihadist militants since 2012. In 2018, Flightglobal Insight estimated that the Syrian Air Force had 63 of the planes in its inventory.
