Advertisement

Spanish pilot dies in crash following National Day parade

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Spanish pilot dies in crash following National Day parade
Spanish Eurofighters flying over Madrid during National Day celebrations earlier in the day. Photo: Javier Soriano/AFP

A pilot died when a Spanish military plane crashed on Thursday after taking part in a display in Madrid for Spain's National Day.

Advertisement

"I can confirm a plane has crashed," a ministry spokeswoman said, with local media reporting that a Eurofighter jet went down near a military base at Albacete, 300 kilometres (180 miles) southeast of the capital.

The pilot died as a result of the accident, Spain's Ministry of Defence later confirmed.

The cause of the accident is being investigated and is still unknown, it added.

A Eurofighter last crashed in Spain in June 2014, killing the plane's pilot when it ploughed into grass short of the runway at the Moron air force base near Seville.

Spain's national day marks the date that Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Americas in 1492.

It falls this year in the middle of Spain's biggest political crisis in a decade as Catalonia's separatist leader is threatening to split the region from the rest of the country.

READ ALSO: Spain to mark National Day with pro-unity rallies

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also