Eight French soldiers and two Greeks were killed Monday when an F-16 crashed during a Greek exercises against other aircraft on a training center for elite pilots of NATO in Spain.
accident also caused 21 injuries, 10 French and 11 Italian, 5 suffered severe burns, and various other injuries, of which 3 have been discharged and the rest remain under observation.
This took place towards the 15H15 local (14h15 GMT) at the airbase of Los Llanos in Albacete province, about 250 km southeast of Madrid, which is used as a training center for pilots of NATO and where they are parked aircraft from several countries .
The Greek tickets as part of the Tactical Leadership Programme, a program of NATO to improve multinational cooperation in air operations, “proceeded to perform an exercise when during takeoff maneuver has weakened” for unknown reasons, explained the Spanish ministry statement.
Out of his career, he finished “crashing into the parking of airplanes crashing into some aircraft were stationed there,” he said.
The accident affected at least six aircraft a Mirage 2000 Alfa-Jet and two French and two Italian AMX, he said later, as well as Greek F.16 that caused the disaster.
Television pictures showed thick black smoke rising from the remains of at least one unit in flames as firefighters and rescuers came to the area cordoned off.
It was necessary to put out the fire before able to estimate the number of victims and “assess the damage that may have occurred in other NATO aircraft,” the Spanish ministry.
“It seems that there are two people who have died who are national Greek and eight French, “he said at 21H00 (20H00 GMT) head of government, the Conservative Mariano Rajoy, interviewed live on the private TV channel Telecinco.
” I’ve been talking to the Minister Defense, we have it made throughout the afternoon (…) there are many injured people, I speak French ten, eleven Italians, “he said, adding that it was too early to be definitive data.
For its part, the French defense ministry confirmed the death toll.
Five of the injured were taken to Madrid for treatment in major burn unit of the hospital in La Paz. The rest were admitted to the University Hospital of Albacete, the ministry said.
The other participants in the maneuvers, Spanish, German, British and American, were not damaged in the accident.
The Chief of Staff of the Air, Francisco Javier Garcia Arnaiz, accompanied by members of the Committee on Technical Accident Investigation Military Aircraft, was the first to move to Los Llanos to follow the developments, said the ministry .
He followed the Spanish defense minister, Pedro Morenés, and Rajoy announced on Tuesday it would also make the French minister and probably the Italian minister.
“This is a tragedy for whole family of NATO, “said for his part, Secretary General of NATO, Norway Jens Stoltenberg, declaring himself” deeply saddened “in a statement from Brussels.
” I express my deepest condolences with the families and nations of those who lost their lives and wish a quick recovery to the wounded, “he said.
Also Rajoy had declared” moved by the tragic accident at the air base of Los Llanos ” in a released shortly after the tragedy in his official account on Twitter message.
According to the website of the base of Los Llanos, it hosts since 2010 a training center for NATO. “It is a flying school that welcomes ten different countries,” said a ministry spokesman.
The center, whose training for fighter pilots is considered one of the most reputable and most demanding in the world, trains pilots in several specialties, including electronic warfare, reconnaissance and aerial combat.
The Commission on Military Technical Research Aircraft (CITAAM) investigates the causes of the accident.
Meanwhile, at the judicial level working on the case the Court Togado # 13 of Valencia and a team of judicial police of the Guardia Civil. Has decreed the secret of his performances
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