The Portuguese air force reported that a midair collision between two small planes during an air show in southern Portugal on Sunday resulted in one pilot’s death and another pilot’s injury.
The air force expressed regret in announcing that at 4:05 pm (1505 GMT), during an aerial demonstration at the Beja Air Show, two planes were involved in an accident. The incident occurred amidst a performance involving six aircraft.
Two Yak-52 aircrafts of the Spanish-Portuguese Yakstars formation team collided during the Beja Air Show, Portugal.
Unfortunately, one aircraft crashed resulting in death of pilot.
The other pilot Sucre managed to land his plane. The incident occurred shortly after 4 p.m.… pic.twitter.com/bbZ8t7SZ7r
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) June 2, 2024
A Spanish national died, according to the air force. An air force spokeswoman told that the victim was the pilot of one of the aircraft involved in the collision. The air force stated that another pilot, who is Portuguese, sustained minor injuries and received immediate medical attention before being transported to Beja hospital.
Portugal’s Defence Minister Nuno Melo described it as a “tragic accident” and informed reporters that an investigation would be launched “to determine the exact cause” of the collision.
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President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa remarked that it was meant to be a moment of leisure and shared enjoyment but instead turned into a moment of pain. The air force reported that the six aircraft belonged to an aerobatic group composed of Spanish and Portuguese pilots known as the “Yak Stars”.
The planes involved in the collision were Yakovlev Yak-52, which is a Soviet-designed aerobatic training model.
A video recorded by a spectator and shared on social media depicted a formation of six planes in flight. In the video, one of the planes appeared to ascend and then make contact with another before crashing to the ground in a cloud of smoke.
One plane crashed outside the airbase’s grounds, while the second aircraft involved in the accident managed to land on the airport tarmac. Fortunately, there were no casualties among the spectators, the air force confirmed.
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