Eribe Kartal, known by the surname of her uncle, Vecihi Hürkuş, is recognized as the first female aviation martyr in Turkish aviation history. At just 18 years old, after persistently obtaining permission from her uncle, she prepared for a parachute jump, but tragically, her parachute failed to open, and she fell to the ground. Eribe passed away hours later, becoming Türkiye’s first female aviation martyr, while the jump caused Vecihi Hürkuş immense grief. Eribe lost her life, but her uncle continued to hold onto aviation as if he were living with a ghost.
Born in İstanbul in 1918, Eribe Hürkuş lost her father and then her mother before she turned three. Her childhood was spent under the guardianship of Vecihi Hürkuş, Türkiye’s first aircraft designer and pilot. Immersed in aviation from an early age, she began pilot training at Vecihi Sivil Tayyare Okulu at age 16. In 1932, the school started operations in Kadıköy, İstanbul, and Eribe chose parachuting over flying, successfully completing her first jump in 1936 from approximately 800 meters as part of rehearsal flights for the Republic Day celebrations on 29 October.
On 29 October 1936, during the Republic Day celebrations, Eribe had no official aviation duty, yet her insistence won out, and she persuaded Vecihi Hürkuş to allow her to perform a jump at the İstanbul Hippodrome. In front of the crowd celebrating the Republic, she jumped from the aircraft, but her parachute failed, and she fell to the ground amidst screams and panic. Vecihi Hürkuş, witnessing the tragedy, stayed by her side for approximately nine hours, trying to ease her suffering.
Eribe Hürkuş, severely injured from the jump, passed away on 30 October 1936. Vecihi Hürkuş recorded his experiences and emotions in his book Bir Tayyarecinin Anıları, describing how her plea “Please, daddy, let me jump” captivated him during the 13th Republic Day celebrations, and how he witnessed her jump and hear her cries “Daddy, I opened it, I opened it, but it didn’t open” before her eventual death. His second memoir, covering 1925–1940, also recorded Eribe’s death, although it was never published.
Following Eribe Kartal Hürkuş’s death as the first female aviation martyr, then-President İsmet İnönü sent a condolence letter and published an article in an aviation magazine titled “Our First Aviation Martyr Girl.” The article was included in school textbooks and served for years as an example of a condolence letter.
Eribe was buried at Cebeci Military Martyrs’ Cemetery in Ankara. Her gravestone includes her photo and lines written by her aviation school friend Sait BAYAV:
“Visitor! Stop. Here, a star was buried. Here lies Eribe, the first Turkish girl of the skies. Eribe: You embraced the clouds, you remain whole in our hearts — what does it matter if your parachute became your shroud?”
Years later, after the grave was damaged, it was restored, and the gravestone was entrusted to the Tayyareci Vecihi Hürkuş Museum Association.