Both Pilots Ejected After The Airplanes Collided On A Training Mission

A German air force pilot was fatally injured Monday when the Eurofighter Typhoon jet he was flying collided with another Typhoon during a training mission.

ABC News reports that German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said that the two aircraft were part of a three-ship unarmed sortie that departed their base in Laage near the Baltic sea port of Rostock, shortly before 2 p.m. local time. The collision occurred about 20 minutes into the exercise.

Minister von der Leyen said that the third pilot saw two good parachutes after the collision, meaning the ejection mechanism aboard the aircraft were triggered. "One pilot was recovered alive, but the second pilot was dead when he was found," said von der Leyen. "We share in the grief of the relatives."

Videos captured by witnesses showed the burning airplanes falling to the Earth, and two plumes of smoke rising from the ground.

The collision was the first involving German Eurofighters, according to the German military.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report