11 Dead And 20 Injured After Greek F16 Crashes On Take-Off At NATO Air Base In Albacete, Central Spain
NEWS: A Greek F16 fighter aircraft crashed at the Los Llanos air base in Albacete, central Spain, at lunchtime (3:16 p.m.) on Monday, destroying AMX, Alfa Jet and Mirage fighters on the ground.
11 people have died and 20 have been injured after a Greek two-seater F16 fighter jet crashed after losing power on take-off inside the Los Llanos air base in Albacete, central Spain, a Defence Ministry spokesman confirmed by telephone to
The Spain Report. “The plane crashed right where there were other planes parked on the apron”, said the MoD spokesman.
Speaking during a TV interview with Telecinco on Monday night, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said eight of the dead were French and two Greek.
The Spanish Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed to The Spain Report on Tuesday morning that one of the most seriously injured burns patients—a French airman—had died overnight after being transferred to a specialist burns unit in a Hospital in Madrid. According to a statement released by the MoD on Monday night, the two Greek crew members, both captains, attempted to eject, “the canopy came off”, but “ejection was not observed”. They both died in the crash.
Eight French airmen—three captains, one lieutenant and four non-commissioned officers—were also killed after the F16 hit the ground and exploded. 21 people—10 Frenchmen and 11 Italians—were injured. Five were transferred to the serious burns unit at the La Paz Hospital in the Spanish capital Madrid, one of whom died overnight. A spokeswoman for the La Paz Hospital told The Spain Report by telephone on Tuesday morning that the four surviving patients were still in a “serious but stable” condition.
Two other Frenchmen are also “serious but stable” in a hospital in Albacete, said a statement released by the Spanish MoD, and five Italians are still under observation at a hospital in the town of Hellín (Castilla La Mancha). The other nine people injured have now been released.
The French Defence Minister, Jean Yves Le Drian, will arrive in Madrid on Tuesday.
In a statement released at 11:15 p.m. on Monday night, the MoD said the accident had affected two Italian AMX fighters, two French Alfa Jets and one French Mirage 2000. The fire caused by the crash and burning jet fuel was extinguished “one hour after the accident”.
The investigating judge has declared the crash investigation secret.
The Spanish Defence Minister, Pedro Morenés, and the Chief of the Air Staff, General Francisco Javier García Arnáiz, travelled to the base.
The Los Llanos base is used to stage NATO’s Tactical Leadership Programme, in which the Greek aircraft was taking part. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg issued a statement on the crash: “I am deeply saddened by the crash of a Greek fighter jet at the Los Llanos base in Spain, which has caused many casualties. This is a tragedy which affects the whole NATO family. I express my heartfelt condolences to the loved ones and the nations of those who lost their lives, and I wish a speedy recovery to the injured. The plane was taking part in an exercise in the framework of NATO’s Tactical Leadership Programme, which aims to improve multinational cooperation in air operations.”
A spokeswoman for the Tactical Leadership Programme was unable to comment due to the unfolding situation.