Forum: F-16 News

Greek and Turkish fighter jets have collided in mid-air over the southern Aegean sea, Greek officials say.

The collision and crash happened near to the island of Karpathos, they were quoted as saying.

A search and rescue effort is under way but the pilots' fate and the cause of the collision are not yet known.

In the past, Greece and Turkey have come close to armed conflict in the Aegean, where they dispute airspace and territorial waters." bbc.com

SAR operation is underway for all 3 pilots by a Greek Coast Guard Helicopter Super Puma Type and Hellenic Navy vessels.

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GrRihno,

thanks for posting this news - hopefully the pilots got out ok. Please let us know if any updates on the search and rescue are released!

http://www.f-16.net/news_article1809.html

stefaan

According to turkish sources, the TuAF plane was an F-16 that took off from Dalaman at 12:46 and belonged to 192 filo from Balikesir.

Good news is that In.gr (news site) and naftemporiki.gr (newspaper site) report that a Turk pilot was saved by a freighter under Panamanian flag. The problem is that he refuses to board a Greek SAR helicopter so that he can be transferred ashore.

The "collision" was witnessed by an EgyptAir airplane that was passing by.

That is confirmed by our media, both TV and Radio also. The Greek pilot is still nowhere found

Damn, how long will they bother messing around like this?

Is it possible that two jets crash during a dogfight? Has it happened before?
If so, when and where?

The BBC has also posted some stuff.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5008178.stm

greeklunatic8 wrote:

Is it possible that two jets crash during a dogfight? Has it happened before? If so, when and where?

There was a dogfight for sure...
Some sites insist that the incident took place over international airspace...
What happened to the Greek pilot remains unknown...

The first reports (which were not true) said that the Turkish aircraft was not a F-16 but a RF-4.

The Turkish pilot is on his way home as he was collected by a freight ship (Panamian flag). He refused to board a Greek SAR Super-Puma and he was collected afterwards by a Turkish one...

Let's hope that everyone will get out of this OK...

I will keep you posted...

Edit: Some sites still insist that the Turkish plane was a RF-4...

Unfortunately the Greek pilot has not been found yet...He ejected from the aircraft but his luck still remains uncertain...

The explosion scenario (according to the EgyptAir passengers) is also confirmed by people from Karpathos: "They heard an explosion but they saw nothing"

Question: Has it happen before? Somewhere in the world?
The Ministries of defence have confirmed it and made contact.

According to Greek news internet sites, the Greek F-16 was a Block 52+ from Souda AFB (115 Fighter Wing). No news from the Greek pilot yet.

The Turk pilot was picked up by the LPG carrier "GAZ CENTURY", owned by a Japanese Company, managed by a Singaporean Company, under Panamanian Flag, with a captain from Philippines. A site reports that the handling of the situation was “difficult”, since the Turk pilot refused in a “persuasive” way and by using all the means that he had in his disposal to embark a Greek Helicopter.

The incident (or at least the blast) was witnessed by the EgyptAir 797 flight from Cairo to Vienna.

There are reports that the TuAF F-16 was part of a comao, escorting a RF-4E to a recce mission.

greeklunatic8 wrote:

Question: Has it happen before? Somewhere in the world?
The Ministries of defence have confirmed it and made contact.

Greek airspace violations by Turkish jets and vice versa are happening every day.

There have been some losses from both sides.

I do remember an incident with Greek Mirages against Turkish F-16s some months ago.

For some is a way of training with real toys...For some others is more of Greek vs Turkey. For the pilots it's friendly rivarly. For me it's a stupid loss of human lifes and money. Both countries have much better things to spend money on.

As for your second question: "Yes the incident has been confirmed by the Greek side, at least..."

Active Member Joined: May 23, 2006 - 03:25 PM Posts: 101

greeklunatic8 wrote:

Is it possible that two jets crash during a dogfight?Has it happened before? If so, when and where?"

Numerous events both in wartime as well as in peace. Not so rare internationally in exrcise dogfights, where according to usual rules a no-fly-in "bubble" of a suitable distance exists around every participating aircraft in order to avoide such instances. These rules do not apply in real confrontations such as this one, even though pilots are instructed for caution regarding close-in fly-by's, among others.

This incident is among those that surface from time to time revealing some aspects of politics done by guns. Using weapons to pursue political interests is what people call war, and war has casualties.

Thankfully the primary reactions of involved leaderships sounds like a no-escalation course has been selected by both sides (let's keep it this way).

Allow me a salute to all brave men who risk their lives flying their countries flag. From my point of view, I pray for the soul of my brave fellow Greek and bow in owe to the courage and skills of the Aegean sentinels.

If you have a little bit of time try downloading the following video from http://rapidshare.de/files/21167722/Tha ... e.mpg.html

It is the dogfight between a Turkish F16 and a Greek one. The video is from the cockpit of the Turkish pilot.

Incidents like that happen everyday unfortunately

I what is going on in the Agean believe me.

I am asking if it has happened somewhere else. Because it must be pretty rare. In a dogfight with one of the best airplanes with well trained pilots. How can it be possible?

Active Member Joined: May 23, 2006 - 03:25 PM Posts: 101

to greeklunatic8

If you do a google search with the term "F 15 collision video" you should find footage of a midair collision of two F15 (pilot's aspect of view). This should give you an idea. Ugly thing this video has been around the internet as "funny" in some sites. What do you think?

URL: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 8966&q=f14

Forum: F-16 News

HAF F-16 - TuAF F-16 collide mid-air