Witnesses reporting hearing a loud bang with a wing broke away from the first EF-2000 Eurofighter aircraft’s main hull.
Two Luftwaffe (German Air Force) EF-2000 Eurofighter jets have collided and crashed while they were taking part in Air Combat Mission training.
As reported by Mirror, emergency services have dashed to northern Fleesensee, near Malchow, after the smash.
Pictures show smoke billowing into the sky in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern region.
A spokesman for Air Force squadron in nearby Laage said both pilots had ejected. The pilot of a third EF-2000 that was flying nearby reported both pilots ejected and two good chutes. One pilot was rescued from a tree and is safe and sound. The second pilot has unfortunately lost his life in the collision.
The EF-2000 Eurofighters were from Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 73 ‘Steinhoff’ (TLG73) based at Laage.
The collision happened on Jun. 24, 2019 at around 2pm local time.
Witnesses reporting hearing a loud bang, according to local media.
One said a wing broke away from the first jet’s main hull.
Others said they saw the ejection seat plunge from an aircraft.
As previously reported, in February 2018 only 39 of 128 Eurofighter jets were available for training and combat use last year on average, and just 26 of 93 older-model Tornado fighter jets.
“Aircraft are grounded due to a lack of spare parts, or they aren’t even on site since they’re off for maintenance by the industry,” Head of the German Air Force, Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz said.
Gerhartz said that during his inspections of several bases serious deficits in the readiness of aircraft and other equipment were discovered.
A 400-hour inspection of the Eurofighter took 14 months instead of seven.
Photo credit: NATO and Mirror
