Greek Air Force F-16 Crashes : killing 10, Spain officials say

10 dead after Greek Air Force F-16 crashes during NATO exercise, the F-16 jet crashed at the Los Llanos airbase in south eastern Spain at 3.30pm local time today.

Among the dead were two pilots, according to early reports. One of the pilots is believed to have performed a wrong manoeuvre during takeoff, causing the jet to crash.

[fwdevp preset_id=”8″ video_path=”WnulxrMDGg8″]

Most of the victims were believed to be foreigners, a Spanish Defence Ministry official said.

13 other people were injured in the accident, officials said.

Television footage from the scene showed emergency crews battling to put out a fire caused by the crash.

It showed flames billowing and a plume of black smoke where the plane crashed.

The Spanish Defence Ministry tweeted: “A Greek F-16 crashes soon after taking off during a NATO exercise in Spain’s ‘Los Llanos’ (Albacete) airbase.”

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he was “deeply saddened by the crash of a Greek fighter jet at the Los Llanos base in Spain, which has caused many casualties”.

The Spanish ministry said the jet that crashed was taking part in a Nato training exercise called the Tactical Leadership Program.

According to a US Air Force Website, TLP was formed in 1978 by Nato’s Central Region air forces to advance their tactical capabilities and produce tactics, techniques and procedures that improve multi-national tactical air operations.

The first TLP course was located at Fuerstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany. It has been based at the Spanish base since June 2009.

Agencies/Canadajournal