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Two Turkish warplanes crashed during a training exercise on Feb. 24 in the central Turkish province of Malatya, killing all four crew, the military said, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

Contact was lost with the RF-4E reconnaissance aircraft after they took off from Malatya air base on Feb. 24 evening for planned night training, a statement on the Chief of Staff’s website said.

“Search operations were immediately started. At 2045 the wreckage of our two planes was discovered and unfortunately four pilots have been martyred,” the statement added. No reason for the crashes was given.
The planes came down in Akçadağ district, more than 150 km (90 miles) north of the Syrian border, a military source told Reuters.

Interior Minister Efkan Ala confirmed that four soldiers were killed in the incident but did not elaborate on the reason of the crash.

National broadcaster NTV reported that an accident might have occurred during the formation flight of the two warplanes. Local eyewitnesses, on the other hand, cited bad weather conditions.