The impact with a large bird makes its way as the most probable hypothesis of the accident of the F-18 fighter plane in which the Lieutenant Colonel Pablo Estrada last October, when he was making a routine flight in the vicinity of Teruel.
The incident is still in the hands of the Commission for the Technical Investigation of Military Aircraft Accidents (CITAAM)which has not yet completed its work to clarify the causes of the accident, but “evidence” has been found which point to the impact with a large bird as the most probable hypothesis.
He Chief of Staff of the Air Force (JEMA), General Francisco Bracoadvanced this version of the accident this Tuesday during a meeting with journalists, while expressing his condolences for the death of the pilot, an aviator with extensive experience in the Air Force.
The accident occurred shortly after 11:00 a.m. on October 4. Lieutenant Colonel Pablo Estrada Martín died there, who He served in the 12th Wing of the Air Forcebased in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid), and could not eject from the plane before impact.
In addition to the 12th Wing, the F18 serves in the 15th Wing of the Air Force based in Zaragoza and in the 46th Wing, in Gando (Gran Canaria). The American-made aircraft entered service in Spain in 1986 and the Ministry of Defense is already working on its replacement.
The first to be decommissioned will be Gando’s F18s, which will be replaced by Eurofighter fighters in the so-called Falcon I program of the Ministry of Defense. The Halcón II program is also under negotiation to replace the rest of the combat aircraft.
The Government still keeps the mystery open about the future of the other Spanish fighter jets and the possibility of acquiring the American F35 as a substitute for some game. Precisely this Tuesday the JEMA has insisted on the convenience of the Armed Forces having two different models of fighter aircraft.
The problem with the F35 is that it is manufactured by the American company Lockheed Martin and its purchase would have no impact on the national defense industry. At the moment, in July of last year, the Council of Ministers approved a sum of 50 million euros for the acquisition of spare parts and maintenance of the F18s in service in Torrejón, Zaragoza and Gando with the aim of prolonging their useful life until year 2035.
#impact #large #bird #F18 #accident #pilot #Pablo #Estrada #died
