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Crash of a Greek F16 during a NATO exercise in Spain. Greeks, French and Italians affected (Maj)

Mourning TLP exercise logo(B2) A Greek F-16 fighter plane crashed in Spain after taking off from Los Llanos Air Base (Albacete) where it was taking part in a NATO exercise with other allied aircraft. It fell back into the parking lot where other planes were parked, including French (2 Alpha Jet, 2 Mirage 2000D and 2 Rafale) and German planes, causing a fire.

Many French among the victims

Balance sheet: 11 dead (2 Greeks and 9 French *) and 20 injured (including 9 French and 11 Italians). Among the injured, some are light, 7 are qualified as "serious", and for 5 of them the prognosis is "reserved". They were transported to theunit of severe burns of the hospital of the Peace to Madrid. The French are among the most seriously affected: an injured person in an emergency situation" (taken to hospital, his death was announced on Tuesday *), “5 injured in intensive care, including two placed in an artificial coma. Three other minor injuries released from hospital According to an official report from the Ministry of Defense drawn up Monday evening. The wounded came mainly from the bases of Mont-de-Marsan and 279 Chateaudun. But it's the airbase 133 of Nancy-Ochey which pays the heaviest price with 7 dead.

One hour to extinguish the fire

The cause of the accident is not yet determined. But the two-seater Greek F-16 would have lost power during takeoff. He would then have veered, apparently losing control of the trajectory to come and crash on the tarmac where the other planes were parked, some were preparing to take off, others were rolling, according to testimony from an Italian pilot collected by Ansa. Five planes were fully hit hard: 2 AMX Ghibli Italian and 3 French planes (including Alphajet and Mirage). The fire that followed was violent: the firefighters took more than an hour to put it out.

Diagram of the accident (ElPais)
Diagram of the accident (ElPais)

A major European aviation exercise

German, Belgian, Danish, French, British, Spanish, Greek, Italian and American planes participated in the exercise which brought together around 750 people (pilots, technicians, assistance). NATO's Tactical Leadership Program aims to test operations carried out in "multinational" and was planned to last 4 weeks (from January 19 to February 13).

A rare serious accident in exercise

It is a blow for the armies of the Alliance which have not experienced such an incident since the accident in the Netherlands. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the accident affected " the entire NATO family and sent condolences to loved ones and nations.” of which the victims were members. The French and Italian defense ministers, JY Le Drian and R. Pinotti, are due to travel to Spain on Tuesday to attend to the wounded, as well as the head of the Greek air force.

(NGV)

(*) The first toll given by the Spanish Prime Minister in person, Mariano Rajoy, mentioned a toll of 10 dead (2 Greeks and 8 French dead). The French Ministry of Defense reported at the end of the afternoon only 1 dead and 5 seriously injured, before reviewing, in the evening, the toll on the rise (time to precisely identify the victims and prevent all families). (Maj 27.1) One of the French transported to the hospital of La Paz in a "critical" state, of extreme urgency then died, we learned on Tuesday (January 27).

The tribute to the French who died by the DICOD and the Ministry of Defense

AirmenDecedes@Def150127

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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