An alert was raised at Greece’s Tanagra air base at midday on Saturday when a two-seat F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed during an aerial display as part of Athens Flying Week. The aircraft’s two pilots, a Flight Lieutenant and a Flying Officer, were found unconscious shortly after 4 p.m., according to reports, and according to philenews information, the aircraft did not have the capability for the crew to eject.
The moment of the crash was captured on video published shortly before by spectators at the air show on social media. The footage shows the Air Force aircraft flying low and banking left before losing altitude and crashing to the ground.
The circumstances of the crash remain unclear for now. According to initial information, the aircraft went down from low altitude onto the base’s runway shortly before landing, while hundreds of spectators were watching the display from close by.
According to witness accounts, the aircraft appeared to be emitting smoke before it went down. The same witnesses say the aircraft suddenly began losing altitude and crashed.
The aircraft appears to have broken into two pieces, and a fire broke out at two separate points. Eighty-five firefighters were mobilised, including two ground teams from the elite forest-fire unit EMODE and one team from the special disaster-response unit EMAK, along with 23 vehicles. For the aerial firefighting effort, seven aircraft and four helicopters were deployed, one of them for coordination.
People at the scene were shocked, and organisers immediately began evacuating the area. Athens Flying Week has been suspended for the time being.
Following the crash, Defence Minister Nikos Dendias is cutting short his schedule at the Thessaloniki International Fair and returning urgently to Athens.
