ANKARA, Turkey — A plane carrying over 60 Spanish peacekeeping forces from Afghanistan to Madrid crashed early Monday while trying to refuel in northwest Turkey, news reports said.
The Ukrainian-operated plane was flying from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to Zaragoza, Spain, with a refueling stop in Trabzon, private NTV television reported, quoting unnamed Turkish aviation officials.
It went down near the mountainous town of Macka, 30 miles south of the Black Sea port of Trabzon, NTV said. The plane carried 62 passengers — all Spanish peacekeeping forces — and 12 crew members, the television station said, quoting Turkish officials.
The plane apparently went down on its third attempt to land in thick fog at Trabzon airport about 4:45 a.m., the Turkish aviation officials said.