An SF-260D-type training aircraft crashed in the central province of Kayseri on Tuesday morning, according to a statement from the Ministry of National Defense, killing both pilots on board.

The statement said the aircraft belonging to the Air Force Command that took off from the 12th Air Transport Main Base Command in Kayseri for training and had crashed for an unknown reason.

It also noted that search and rescue operations had commenced but later reports said that the aircraft's two pilots had died in the crash.

Witnesses said that the two pilots had changed the direction of the plane as it went down to avoid hitting seasonal workers working in the fields.

Salih Içer, one of the workers in the field, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the plane passed over them and was traveling in the direction of Kayseri center before it crashed.

"After coming back, the plane lost control and was making no sound. It came straight toward us. I guess he (the pilot) saw us and his friend noticed. We saw it fall. It landed nose-down because they noticed us. It exploded as soon as it landed. We tried to intervene, but we couldn't because of the fire. I think that he noticed us as he was coming toward us. There were five children in the car at the beginning of the field, and there were 15 people in the field, he was coming toward us. He landed nose-down so that he wouldn't come at us," Içer said.