Red Arrows Collide During Greek Exercise

[xxMATTGxx]

Not much information on it at the moment apart from:

Two of the RAF's Red Arrows planes have collided near the Greek island of Crete.

RT @SkyNewsBreak: Two of the Red Arrows display team collide over the Greek island of Crete. One plane crashes - pilot ejects to safety.

Source: Sky News

Edited: More information is now coming through.

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http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Mar/Week4/15580354.jpg

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The second plane landed safely along with the rest of the RAF squadron at Iraklion Airport, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) away.

The pilot who parachuted from his aircraft only suffered a dislocated shoulder.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed an incident had occurred during the aerobatic team's pre-season training at the Kastelli airforce base.

"A service inquiry will be convened to identify the cause of the crash," a spokesman added.


Glad to see that both pilot are well and only suffered minor injuries.

[Catzsy]

That is pretty unusual! Glad to hear there were only minor injuries though. The crash must have cost a fortune.

[xxMATTGxx]

Here is the picture of the damaged plane that landed safety.

http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Mar/Week4/15580386.jpg

Yeah It is unusual, they do have a very good safety record. Mistakes do happen in such stunts and I'm sure they will investigate this fully to see if any procedures need changing.

[Kieran]

I suppose if you're playing with high speed toys then no matter how well trained they are, things can go wrong.

[AgnesIO]

Please don't let the idiotic government make some stupid rule :P

One thing that I can actually say is nice to be part British for.

I do love the Red Arrows, and on the numerous occasions I have been to see them they do have a fantastic display.

[xxMATTGxx]

Please don't let the idiotic government make some stupid rule :P

One thing that I can actually say is nice to be part British for.

I do love the Red Arrows, and on the numerous occasions I have been to see them they do have a fantastic display.

If they did make any stupid rules against the Red Arrows, then they will be getting a nasty message from most of the public for sure. Not just from the UK but from around the world, they are a British icon and I hope they keep flying for many many years to come. :)

[Hitman]

Glad nobody was badly hurt or died! :D

[Hecktix]

Oh it's good to see none of them got badly hurt. Accidents happen and when you are performing such terrifying stunts like they are it is inevitable it will happen occasionally.

I just hope it wasn't the pilot who landed safely's fault, if it was he'll be feeling quite bad :P

[Black_Apalachi]

Looks like one plane just clipped the other's tail fin or something. Words such as 'collide' in news reports do make things sound bigger than they are. Glad the pilots are OK :)

[Yoshimitsui]

It was the synchro pair, so accidents are bound to happen more than so than the others. With the first woman pilot this year, it was in high speculation that she may be involved. Accidents happen.

[xxMATTGxx]

It was the synchro pair, so accidents are bound to happen more than so than the others. With the first woman pilot this year, it was in high speculation that she may be involved. Accidents happen.

What was the need of the woman to be mentioned though? From what I've seen from reports it was two males anyway...

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‘‘We can confirm that at 1150 GMT on Tuesday 23 March two Hawk aircraft from the Royal Air Force Red Arrows Aerobatic Team collided whilst undertaking pre-season training at Hellenic Air Force Base Kastelli in Crete. The aircraft were being flown by Flt Lt Mike Ling and Flt Lt Dave Montenegro. Flt Lt Ling ejected from his aircraft sustaining a dislocated shoulder and minor injuries associated with an ejection. His aircraft was severely damaged on impact with the runway. Flt Lt Montenegro managed to land his aircraft safely with no injuries. An investigation into the cause of the incident will shortly be underway and the 2010 season training will continue as soon as possible."

[GommeInc]

I overheard this on the radio yesterday lunchtime. The radio didn't give any details so it was assumed it was really bad news. Thankfully it doesn't look too bad.

I've seen the Red Arrows so many times in my life time, my grandad and dad were aircraft fanatics so we used to go to all kinds of air displays nearby :P They've flown past the one or two times before too, quite low as well! Very iconic aircraft :)

[Yoshimitsui]

What was the need of the woman to be mentioned though? From what I've seen from reports it was two males anyway...

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Thats why i said it was in high speculation, it caused quite a stir on some forums i read mostly of a joking manner. I never said she was involved.

[Gibs960]

Really Shocked by that! Every time I've seen them they've never really come close to crashing :| and they don't really have a record of crashing.

[iAdam]

Mistakes do happen, even with the most trained people as these are, glad to see no one severely injured.