A Greek Air Force F-16 fighter crashed at the Andravida military base in the western Peloponnese on Thursday afternoon. According to preliminary reports from the scene, the pilot successfully ejected from the plane before the crash and was in “good health.”
The incident occurred at 15:49 on Thursday during the landing at Andravida airbase. it says in a statement by the General Staff of the Greek Air Force. The plane was returning from a training exercise and reportedly crashed at a military airfield of the 117th Combat Wing in front of the airbase personnel.
The F-16 Block 52+ was a single-seat fighter and flew out of the 11th Combat Wing for training. The cause of the crash is not yet known, it is being investigated by the relevant committee of the Greek Air Force. The pilot was transferred to a military hospital, according to a statement by the General Staff of the Armed Forces without specifying details.
According to the state broadcaster ERT, the pilot twice tried to land and was ejected from the plane, which was already on the runway of Andravida AFB. The military report says there was light cloud cover and rain. The pilot has activated all relevant protocols in an emergency.
Site onalert notes that in the crash, Pentagon officials see similarities with the accident F-16 Greek Air Force at Los Llanos Air Force Base in Albacete (Spain) in 2015. During that accident, two Greek pilots and eight NATO pilots were killed, another 21 people were injured, as it happened on the territory of the air base.
The day after the tragic accident, the Greek General Staff ordered that most of the F-16 Block 50 be sent for inspection.
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