7 people had lost their lives: Verdict announced in the Büyükçekmece helicopter crash case

The verdict has been announced in the trial of three officials from the construction firm that built and operated the television tower, following the 2017 crash in Büyükçekmece where a helicopter struck the tower, resulting in the deaths of 2 pilots and 5 passengers.

No defendants or their lawyers attended the 11th hearing at the Bakırköy 17th High Criminal Court.

Concluding the case, the court sentenced defendants Osman Naci Endem and Tamer Tunca to 7 years and 6 months in prison each for the crime of 'causing the death of more than one person by negligence'.

The court ruled to separate the file of defendant Mehmet Enis Özgül, who has not been apprehended for a long time.

FROM THE INDICTMENT

The indictment prepared by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office stated that on March 10, 2017, the helicopter belonging to Eczacıbaşı Havacılık AŞ took off from Atatürk Airport at 08:16 and crashed at 08:20 after hitting a tower built and operated by a construction firm near the TÜYAP Fair and Congress Center.

The indictment detailed that captain pilot Alaattin Nacar, co-pilot Ahmet Bulut, Eczacıbaşı employee Salim Özen, and Russian passengers İgor Koçhergin, Elena Badragan, Luidmila Chuprova, and Aleksandr Vanin lost their lives in the helicopter crash.

In the indictment, which lists Mehmet Enis Özgül, Osman Naci Endem, and Tamer Tunca—the authorized partners of the construction firm that built the tower the helicopter struck—as defendants, it was noted that according to reports prepared regarding the incident, Eczacıbaşı Havacılık AŞ had no fault that could have caused the accident.

The indictment stated that an inspection conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on April 6, 2017, at the request of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure's Transportation Safety Investigation Center, determined that the television tower was not marked or illuminated in accordance with standards.

Accordingly, the indictment, which stated that Endem İnşaat AŞ, the company that built and operated the tower, was at fault for the accident, had requested that Endem, Özgül, and Tunca be sentenced to between 2 and 15 years in prison each for the crime of "causing the death of more than one person by negligence."

News Source: AA