Two Greek servicemen and nine others were killed when a Greek Air Force F-16 crashed on takeoff at an air base in Spain that was hosting a NATO exercise Monday. Another 13 people, mostly French and Italian, were injured when the fighter went down in a parking area filled with other jets. “The plane lost power, crashing into the parking area for planes, crashing into various planes that were parked there,” Spain’s defense ministry said in a statement. The two occupants of the F-16 were killed and the remainder of the dead and injured were mechanics and other support personnel working on the planes in the parking area.
An unknown number of aircraft in the parking area, French Mirages and Italian Alphajets, were damaged. The accident occurred about 3:20 p.m. local time at a training center in Albacete, 160 miles southeast of Madrid. The F-16 was involved in the exercise but it’s not clear if the other aircraft were participating.
