In November 1913, he performed the first VIP flight in Turkish aviation history by carrying Cemal Pasha and Talat Pasha, notable statesmen of the period. On the same day, he also carried Osman Vehbi Bey, a newspaper correspondent, in the same airplane, and completed the first flight that hosted a civilian and a press member together in Turkish aviation history. With Belkıs Şevket Hanım, he airdropped brochures to raise donations for the campaign to purchase airplanes on behalf of the Association for the Protection of Women Rights.
At the time, a flight was determined to be performed in order to relieve the suffering after the defeat in the Balkan Wars and to demonstrate that the Ottoman Empire could also successfully use the latest means of science and technology just like the West. A flight that would set off from Istanbul and land in Egypt through the Anatolian and Middle Eastern territories of the empire was significant in terms of showing the forces trying to stir chaos in the Middle East that the empire was still powerful. This flight would also prove that the Ottoman state showed care for every part of its territory and was capable of reaching these places. This flight was officially named "Istanbul-Alexandria Air Travel." As part of the air travel, 27-year-old Mehmet Fethi Bey and observer Lt. Sadık Bey aviated a Bleriot plane named "Muavenet-i Milliye".
On 8 February 1914, the plane took off from Istanbul following a grand ceremony despite the rainy weather. The plane flown by Fethi Bey and Sadık Bey followed the route Istanbul-Eskişehir-Afyonkarahisar-Konya-Tarsus-Aleppo-Homs-Beirut-Damascus, and finally landed in Damascus successfully. Having met a great deal of interest in Damascus, the aviators gave interviews to several newspapers after landing. However, the plane crashed around Lake Taberiye due to technical reasons while flying from Damascus to Jerusalem on Feb. 27. The two brave aviators lost their lives in the crash, becoming martyrs.
Source: "Daily Sabah", 28th June 2018.
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