TURKEY: Russian Warplane Shot Down On The Turkey-Syria Border

Turkish fighter jets have shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border after it allegedly violated Turkey's airspace, sparking a spat over who was in the wrong.

Video footage showed a warplane on fire before crashing on a hill and two crew members parachuting.

Syrian rebels said one pilot was dead, and provided a video showing the man immobile and badly wounded.

An official from the rebel group said the man was dead, but did not mention the second pilot who was in the plane.

On the video, a voice is heard saying "a Russian pilot", as a group of men gather around him. "God is great," a voice is heard saying.

Turkey's own F-16 jets warned the Russian jet five times in 10 minutes over the airspace violations before shooting it down.

Turkey was unaware of the nationality of the plane when it was shot down, its military said.

"On November 24, 2015 at around 9.20 am (8.20pm NZ time), a plane whose nationality is not known violated the Turkish airspace despite several warnings (10 times within five minutes) in the area of Yayladagi, Hatary," the military said in a statement.

"Two F-16 planes on aerial patrol duty in the area intervened against the plane in question in accordance with the rules of engagement at 9.24am."

Russia insisted that the jet did not violate the Turkish airspace.

"We are looking into the circumstances of the crash of the Russian jet," Russia's Defence Ministry said.

"The Ministry of Defence would like to stress that the plane was over the Syrian territory throughout the flight."

A Kremlin spokesman said it was a "very serious incident" but that it was too early to draw conclusions.

Russia initially said the Su-24 was downed by artillery fire while on a bombing mission in Syria.

It said the pilots parachuted but Russia's military had had no further contact with them.

Turkey's private Dogan news agency said two Russian helicopters, flying low over the Turkmen Bayirbucak region, searched for the two pilots.

Footage from private broadcaster Haberturk TV showed a warplane going down in flames in a woodland area, a long plume of smoke trailing behind it.

The plane went down in area known by Turks as "Turkmen Mountain" in northern Syria near the Turkish border, Haberturk said.

Separate footage from Turkey's Anadolu Agency showed two pilots parachuting out of the jet before it crashed.

One of the pilots is reportedly in the hands of Turkmen forces in Syria who were searching for the other pilot.

Russia has repeatedly carried out air strikes in Syria in defence of President Bashar al-Assad.

Turkey called this week for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss attacks on Turkmens in neighbouring Syria, and last week Ankara summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the bombing of their villages.

Ankara has traditionally expressed solidarity with Syrian Turkmens, who are Syrians of Turkish descent.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has spoken with the chief of military staff and the foreign minister about the developments on the Syrian border, the prime minister's office said in a statement, without mentioning the downed jet.

He has ordered the foreign ministry to consult with NATO, the United Nations and related countries on the latest developments, his office said.

It was the first time a NATO member's armed forces had downed a Russian or Soviet military aircraft since the 1950s and Russian and Turkish markets fell on fears of an escalation between the former Cold War enemies.

About 1,700 people have fled the mountainous Syrian area to the Turkish border as a result of fighting in the last three days, a Turkish official said on Monday.

Russian jets have bombed the area in support of ground operations by Syrian government forces.

UNITED KINGDOM: Thousands Of British Tourists Arrive Back In UK

Thousands return from Sharm el-Sheikh to the UK as many more remain stranded

About 1,500 British tourists are expected to return to the UK on Saturday from Sharm el-Sheikh after airlines began operating flights from the Egyptian resort on Saturday.

A Thomas Cook flight carrying about 220 people left Sharm about 3pm bound for Gatwick, where it will touch down this evening. A second Thomas Cook flight is also expected to leave for Manchester.

Monarch has two flights, to Bristol and Manchester, while two Thomson planes will also bring holidaymakers back to Manchester tonight.

EasyJet has two flights carrying another 445 passengers due to land at Luton tonight. The company has around 4,000 passengers in Sharm el-Sheikh, of whom 1,000 have been delayed.

British Airways sent an empty plane to Sharm this morning to return holidaymakers to Gatwick.

UK government officials warned that increased safety measures mean many holidaymakers will be forced to stay in Sharm longer than they had hoped.

A Department for Transport spokesman said that the limited number of flights able to leave Sharm el-Sheikh each day for the UK meant that tour operators or airlines were likely to advise some customers to remain at their resort.

“We understand that tour operators and airlines are working to ensure that where people need to extend their stay at their resort necessary costs will be covered,” he said.

“It is important that people stay at their resort until they have confirmation from their airline or tour operator that they are on a flight back to the UK and that they follow their airline’s advice on the appropriate arrival time at the airport.”

Monarch plans to operate two flights from Sharm to Manchester today.

Flight ZB8009 was due to depart at 505pm local time and arrive at Manchester at 2050pm UK time, while flight ZB685 was due to leave Sharm at 5pm and land in Manchester at 2045pm.

The airline said that customers due to travel on these flights were contacted by text message.

Easyjet has posted a proposed flight schedule from Sharm on its website. Two flights - both of which were originally due to fly into Gatwick - are expected to land at Luton on Sunday. The airline will operate another three flights on Monday and Tuesday respectively, with more later in the week.

While many tourists will make it back to Britain today, many are not so lucky. Emma Beeney, who has been in the Egyptian resort with her two children for the past 10 days, had been due to fly back to Birmingham on Saturday with Monarch but did not expect to do so.

She also described witnessing “officials” at Sharm el-Sheikh airport offering tourists the chance to skip the passport control queue for £20 a head.

There’s a few places on a couple of flights going out today but they’re giving priority to people with disabilities and young children. I have registered but I don’t think we’ll be going. I’m not even going to the airport. I’m not going to take my kids into that chaos - there’s no point queuing up and checking in.

Nine flights due to land in the UK on Saturday evening

A Thomas Cook flight has left Sharm el-Sheikh bound for Gatwick airport as airlines continue their efforts to bring British tourists home. The plane took off shortly before 3pm with 220 passengers and will land tonight.

It is one of nine flights expected to bring thousands of stranded tourists back to the UK today. Monarch has two flights, to Bristol and Manchester, while two Thomson planes will bring holidaymakers back to Manchester.

A second Thomas Cook flight is also expected to leave for Manchester, while British Airways sent an empty plane to Sharm el-Sheikh this morning to return holidaymakers to Gatwick.

EasyJet also plans to bring another 445 passengers back, with two planes due to fly into Luton tonight. The airline has about 4,000 passengers in Sharm el-Sheikh, of whom 1,000 have been delayed.

The chairman of Egypt’s crash investigation committee, Ayman al-Muqaddam, says a noise can be heard in the last second of the cockpit recording from the downed Russian jet.

A British flight to Sharm el-Sheikh narrowly missed being hit by a missile in August. Holidaymakers reacted angrily to the news that the public was not informed at the time.

A cartoon about the crash, which was published in controversial French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, has been condemned by Vladimir Putin.

Some British tourists may have to wait up to 10 days to get home, a UK official has said.

Only seven flights are scheduled to being holidaymakers back today, despite 2,600 still waiting at the airport or nearby hotels.
A cockpit record did register a noise in the last second of recording, the head of an investigation committee into the crash has said.