A video shows the aircraft crashing into the sea.
A Casa C-101 Aviojet advanced trainer of the Ejército del Aire (Spanish Air Force), has crashed into the Mediterranean waters today in an accident off the coast of La Manga del Mar Menor, in Murcia, not far from San Javier Air Base. According to the first unconfirmed reports (the linked page has been edited), the aircraft belonged to the Patrulla Águila (Spanish for “Eagle Patrol”), the Spanish Air Force’s display team and the only pilot on the plane managed to eject before impact, however, the only official statement only says the aicraft was flown by an IP (Instructor Pilot) of the Academia General del Aire, the academy of officers of the Spanish Air Force, that is based at San Javier, the same air base that hosts the aerobatic demonstration team of the Spanish Air Force.
Unfortunately, the IP died in the incident.
A falta de confirmación de la autoridad forense respecto de los restos aparecidos, todo hace indicar que nuestro compañero el piloto instructor de la #AGA accidentado, ha fallecido
— Ejército del Aire (@EjercitoAire) August 26, 2019
The Patrulla Águila flies seven Casa C-101 Aviojets.
A video of the incident was posted online. The footage does not seem to show any ejection; on the other side it looks like the aircraft was piloted and tried to recover before impacting the water.
🔴 🇪🇸 Crash d’un Casa C-101 Aviojet des forces aériennes espagnoles à La Manga en mer Méditerranée. pic.twitter.com/zxsoyHOkKt
— air plus news (@airplusnews) August 26, 2019
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A search and rescue operation is underway:
11.07. h. Prosigue la búsqueda del tripulante del avión accidentado. NO ha sido localizado aún. Imagen de la zona tomada desde helicóptero HE010. pic.twitter.com/hD6OVsNZfa
— 112 Región de Murcia (@112rmurcia) August 26, 2019
The pilot killed in the incident was Comandante Francisco Marín, the former solo (Aguila 5) of the Patrulla Aguila:
#Aviadores
El comandante Francisco Marín nació en Murcia en 1976. Era Águila 5, el Solo de @patrullaguila
El Solo es quien lleva al avión al límite de la forma más segura.
Tenía más de 3000 horas de vuelo en #Mirage, #F5 y #C101
Sirvió en #Afganistán como controlador aéreo #TACP pic.twitter.com/iEtqa3VllR
— Ejército del Aire (@EjercitoAire) August 26, 2019
H/T José Luis for the heads-up.
