MADRID: A Spanish Air Force pilot tragically died when an F-18 fighter jet crashed on Friday in eastern Spain, officials confirmed.
The pilot was the sole occupant of the aircraft, which went down around 12:30 PM (10:30 GMT) near Peralejos in the Teruel province, according to the air force’s statement on social media platform X.
The defense ministry expressed its heartfelt condolences to the pilot’s family, friends, and colleagues, sharing a photo of the victim in a separate message on X.
Aragon TV broadcast images of the crash site, showing a thick plume of smoke rising from the wooded area where the plane fell. Reports from local newspaper El Heraldo de Aragon say that the aircraft was engaged in an exercise with another F-18 and was flying at low altitude when the incident occurred.
Both planes had taken off from the Torrejon de Ardoz base near Madrid.
