The Portuguese Air Force announced, in a statement, that the two aircraft “were involved in an accident during an air show” in which 6 aircraft participated during the “Beja Air Show.”
The army said that during the collision that occurred after 4 p.m., a person “of Spanish nationality” was killed.
In response to a question from Agence France-Presse, an army spokesman explained that he was the pilot of one of the two planes.
Another Portuguese pilot was also slightly injured. The statement explained that he “received emergency treatment” before being “transferred to the hospital in Baja,” a town located in the south of the country, with a population of 25,000 people.
The two pilots belong to an exhibition team called “Yak Stars”, whose members are of Spanish and Portuguese nationality. They were flying two Yakovlev Yak-52 planes, a small Soviet-designed plane intended for training and demonstrations.
In a video clip posted on social media, the six planes appear performing at an altitude of dozens of meters from the ground. Then one of them rises and suddenly appears to collide with another plane before crashing in a cloud of smoke.
The Portuguese army explained that the plane that fell to the ground crashed “outside the perimeter of the air base,” while the second plane was able to land on the runway. She added that the incident “did not result in any injuries among the attendees,” according to Agence France-Presse.
According to the “Beja Air Show” website, about 30 air shows were scheduled for groups from different European countries, in addition to “Yak Stars”, which was presented as “the largest civilian air show team in southern Europe.”
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