Two Eurofighter Typhoon swing-role jets operated by the German military crashed in the north of the country during a training exercise on Monday, June 24, killing one of the pilots, according to German military.
“The Eurofighters collided in the air and then crashed,” Spiegel cited a Bundeswehr spokesperson as saying. According to the report, the German Ministry of Defense said the two planes crashed about 10 km (6 miles) apart in the Laage area, one in Jabel in the Mecklenburg Lake District and another near a forest in Nossentiner.
There was no immediate information about the cause of the crash.
The aircraft were unarmed and were from Tactical Force Wing 73 “Steinhoff” based in Laage near Rostock. They were flying a training mission with a third Eurofighter when they crashed around 2 p.m. (noon GMT).
One of the pilots was able to safely eject from the aircraft, the air force said, but the second pilot was killed. The surviving pilot was found in a tree and taken to hospital for treatment.
Video posted by regional radio station Ostseewelle Hit-radio, which first reported the crash, showed smoke plumes coming from the forest.
EUROFIGHER ZUSAMMENGESTOßEN Nach Ostseewelle-Informationen sind über der Müritzregion zwei Eurofighter zusammengestoßen und abgestürzt. Mehr dazu in unseren Nachrichten. pic.twitter.com/RwqmYjU7yh
— Ostseewelle (@ostseewelle_de) June 24, 2019
The Eurofighter Typhoon is made by a consortium that includes the multinational corporation Airbus, U.K.-based BAE Systems and Italy’s Leonardo.
The Typhoon has been in service with the Luftwaffe since 2003 and is also used by Austria, Italy, Kuwait, Oman, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
In March 2018, Saudi Arabia signed a Memorandum of Intent for 48 Typhoon jets from the U.K. government. The previous December, Qatar signed a contract worth £6 billion (€6.8 billion, $8 billion) with the U.K. for 24 Eurofighter Typhoons, plus Brimstone and Meteor missiles and Paveway IV bombs.
