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Germany crash: Two Eurofighter jets in fatal collision | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Two German armed forces Eurofighter jets have collided and crashed in the Müritz area of north-eastern Germany. | Two German armed forces Eurofighter jets have collided and crashed in the Müritz area of north-eastern Germany. |
Although both pilots managed to eject from the planes, local reports said one of them had died. | |
One of the Eurofighters went down in a forest while the other crashed near a village about 10km (6 miles) away, the interior ministry in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania said. | |
The pilot who survived was found dangling from a tree by rescue teams. | |
The mid-air collision happened as three Eurofighter Typhoons were taking part in an air combat exercise shortly after 14:00 (12:00 GMT). The third pilot witnessed the collision over the Fleesensee and reported seeing two parachutes. | |
Local media showed footage of the smoke from both planes after they hit the ground and said the crashes had both started small fires. | |
One of the pilots was found alive by rescuers near the village of Nossentiner Hütte, and residents said the fire brigade quickly brought the fire at the scene under control. | |
Police warned that debris from the crash had been strewn over a large area and was dangerous. | |
The second plane went down in a wooded area near the village of Jabel. | |
The two planes were based at Laage near the district of Rostock, home to the "Steinhoff" Tactical Air Force Wing 73. Neither plane was carrying weapons. | |
Built by a European consortium of Airbus, the UK's BAE Systems and Italy's Leonardo, the fighter costs around €90m (£80m). | |
Germany's military has some 140 Eurofighter Typhoons but has struggled to keep them ready for combat. A report last year said only four of its planes were available because of a leak of cooling fluid in the wing sensors. |