Spanish Air Force Display Team’s Soloist Has Crashed Into The Sea. Pilot Killed.

The soloist of Patrulla Aguila (Image credit: Spanish Air Force)

The C-101 jet #5 of the Patrulla Águila has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea off Murcia.

A Casa C-101 Aviojet belonging to the Patrulla Águila (Spanish for “Eagle Patrol”), the Spanish Air Force’s display team, has crashed into sea earlier today near La Manga, in Murcia. The pilot, Commander Eduardo Fermín Garvalena, was killed in the incident.

Initially, the Ejército del Aire (Spanish Air Force) released a statement saying that a C-101 jet of the Academia General del Aire, the academy of officers of the Spanish Air Force, was involved in the accident.

Later, the service announced the C-101 was one of the 7 jets flown by the display team based at San Javier: the #5, the soloist of Patrulla Águila. The team is currently preparing for the beginning of the airshow season.

On Aug. 26, 2019, another C-101 Aviojet advanced trainer crashed into the sea off the coast of La Manga del Mar Menor, in Murcia. Back then, the first reports said the aircraft belonged to the Patrulla Águila and that the only pilot on the plane managed to eject before impact; however, it later emerged that the aicraft was flown by the former solo (Aguila 5) of the Patrulla Aguila, Comandante Francisco Marín, an IP (Instructor Pilot) of the Academia General del Aire, the academy of officers of the Spanish Air Force, also based at San Javier, who lost his life in the incident.

We will update this article as new details emerge.

H/T Antonio Valencia for the heads-up.



About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.