Two Eurofighter Typhoon fighters of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) on Monday crashed into each other during a combat training mission killing one of the pilots. The unarmed Typhoons crashed over a lake in Nossentiner Hutte in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
According to the BBC, one Typhoon jet crashed into a forest near the village of Jabel after the mid-air collision and the other crashed near a village about 10 km (6 miles) away, the interior ministry in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania said. A third pilot in another Typhoon fighter witnessed the two jets collide and also reported seeing two parachutes.
German police cordoned off the crash area immediately as rescue teams rushed to the lake. A German Air Force spokesperson of the Steinhoff Tactical Air Force Wing 73 squadron in Laage where the two ill-fated jets were based said both pilots had ejected but one of them died while the other was found alive stuck in a tree, according to the sun.co.uk. The crash took place at around 2 pm local time (5:30 pm Indian Standard Time).
An eyewitness claimed that a wing of one of the jets was shattered due to the impact while others added that they saw two ejector seats shooting out from the Typhoons.
According to European defence experts, it is the seventh fatal crash of the Eurofighter Typhoon since the aircraft entered active service with the air forces of European countries in August 2003. But Monday's crash is the first time two Typhoons, capable of flying at 1,550 miles per hour (2,495 kmph), have crashed into each other.
The £125 million supersonic twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole fighter has 13 external points to carry weapons. The jet is in service with United Kingdom's Royal Air Force, German Air Force, Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare), Spanish Air Force (Ejercito del Aire), Austrian Air Force, Kuwait Air Force, Royal Air Force of Oman, Qatar Air Force and Royal Saudi Air Force.
