Greek jet crashes in Spain. Ten killed including pilots
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
The pilot and co-pilot of the Greek F-16 that crashed on Monday during a NATO exercise in Los Llanos, nearly 260 km southeast of Madrid, have been found dead.
Ten people were killed, including the two Greek pilots, and 19 were injured when the airplane fell on parked aircraft during takeoff.
A group of Greek Civil Aviation experts are already in the area, which has been cordoned off due to the presence of toxic chemicals, in order to assist Spanish authorities.
Three days of mourning for the Armed Forces was ordered by Nikos Dendias following the suggestion of the Chief of Staff, Gen. Michael Kostarakos for the tragic accident in Spain, during which two Greek pilots, Captain Panagiotis Lascaris, 35 years old, married with a son, and 1,459 flight hours of which 872 hours on F-16 aircraft and Flight Lieutenant Athanasios Zagas, 31, from Andravida Kyllinis, married with a son and a daughter, with 1,128 hours of which 524 hours in F-16 aircraft.
Of the 22 people injured on the ground, 12 are French and 10 Italian. Seven of them are serious, five have been moved to a Madrid hospital with severe burns, while fears that the death toll could rise.
The Greek F -16 fell 40 feet after takeoff, at the worst possible time, when the aircraft was "loaded" with fuel and fell at a point of the runway where several fighter aircraft were parked. A possible cause of the fall, maybe mechanical failure, or damage to the control of the rudder. The aircraft tipped to the right just as it took off from the ground, and its wing touched the ground. A mock up of a HARM rocket antiradar missile was loaded on the right-wing. There is speculation that something cwent wrong in managing the loading of the aircraft weapons.
The Greek two-seat F -16 belongs to 341 Squadron, which is based in Nea Aghialos and was participating in a NATO exercise in Spain.
After the accident, the Greek Air Force ordered the grounding and inspection of all F -16 Block 50 aircraft.
