Two small planes collided midair Sunday during an air show performance in southern Portugal, the air force said, with media reporting that one of the pilots was killed.
One of the planes crashed above an air base in Beja, located about 180 km south of Lisbon, on Sunday and exploded into flames, killing its Spanish pilot, the Portuguese Air Force (PAF) said.
“The air force regrets to announce that at 4:05 pm (1505 GMT), at the Beja Air Show, two planes were the victim of an accident during an aerial demonstration” involving six aircraft, it said in a short statement.
Portuguese media reported that the pilot of one of the aircraft had died.
They identified the aircraft as two Yakovlev Yak-52, a Soviet-designed aerobatic training model.
The air force said emergency services were at the scene and organisers of the show at Beja airport had suspended the event.
A video filmed by a spectator and posted on social media showed a formation of six planes in flight, with one of them ascending, apparently touching one of the others and then crashing to the ground.
Air force captain Patricia Fernandes told broadcaster RTP that ‘one of the pilots, with Spanish nationality, died and another pilot was injured’.
Portuguese newspapers quoted witnesses as saying the six aircraft were part of an aerobatic group named the “Yak Stars”.
The patrol includes Portuguese and Spanish pilots and was described by the PAF as the ‘largest civilian aerobatic team in southern Europe’.
After the accident, the PAF decided to cancel the Beja AirShow, Portugal’s biggest air festival.
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