Two German ‘Eurofighter’ jets collided in the skies and crashed Monday, with at least one of the pilots feared dead, Euronews reports.
The warplanes hit each other over Plau am See in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at about 2 pm CET, an Interior Ministry official said.
One crashed in a wooded area near Jabel while the other came down more than six miles away, south of the village of Nossentiner.
The Luftwaffe said both pilots were able to operate their ejector seat. One was found alive by rescue teams in a treetop. The search for the second pilot was underway.
Local police said they had found body parts but could not yet identify them as the second pilot.
The crashes caused forest fires but firefighters were quickly on hand to extinguish them.
Along with a third jet, the aircraft were flying an “air combat mission,” the ministry said.
The crashed jets belonged to the Air Force Squadron 73 “Steinhoff”, which is stationed in Laage near Rostock.
Some 400 Eurofighters — made by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo — are in service with militaries around the world.