2 German Fighter Jets Collide Midair, 1 Pilot Killed, 1 Survives

Reuters
By Reuters
June 24, 2019World News
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2 German Fighter Jets Collide Midair, 1 Pilot Killed, 1 Survives
Two Eurofighter jets perform at the German Air Force Base in Noervenich, western Germany on March 21, 2016. (Martin Meissner/AP Photo)

BERLIN—One pilot was killed and another managed to parachute to safety after two unarmed German Eurofighter jets collided over northeastern Germany on June 24, officials said.

The pilot of a third plane who witnessed the accident said parachutes had been ejected from both aircraft. One of the pilots was later rescued from the top of a tree but the other was found dead on the ground.

A forest official stands next to debris
A forest official stands next to debris after two Eurofighter warplanes crashed after a mid-air collision near the village of Jabel in northeastern Germany, on June 24, 2019 (Petra Konermann/Nordkurier via Reuters)

“This is a sad day for our air force,” Defence Minister Ursula Von Der Leyen told reporters near the crash site in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

“We lost a soldier in a flight accident. Our thoughts are with his family and his comrades.”

The jets collided about 20 minutes after they took off, she said. An armed forces spokesman said it was too early to say anything about the circumstances of the crash, and recovery teams were searching for the black box flight recorders.

The battalion based at Laage air force base, near Rostock, where the aircraft took off, trains all pilots flying Germany’s 140 Eurofighters.

Two German Eurofighter jets
Two German Eurofighter jets simulate the interception of a plane over the Baltic sea on Nov. 1, 2018. (Sabine Siebold/Reuters)

They were the first two of the jets that Germany has lost since it started flying them in 2004.

Ostseewelle radio, which first reported the crash, posted a video sent in by a listener which it said showed two plumes of smoke rising from separate crash sites some distance apart.

two Eurofighter warplanes crash
Smoke rises on the horizon after two Eurofighter warplanes crashed in northeastern Germany after a mid-air collision, on June 24, 2019. (Ostseewelle HIT-RADIO Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/Twiter via Reuters)

It described a field of debris around the area of the crash, which it said had ignited a small forest fire.

About 400 Eurofighters—made by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo – are in service around the world.

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