17-9-2023 (ROME) A tragic incident occurred as an Italian airforce display jet crashed after colliding with a bird, resulting in the wreckage striking a car and claiming the life of a five-year-old girl.
Dramatic footage captured the MB339 fighter plummeting from the sky, as bystanders gathered to witness the Frecce Tricolore display near Turin, Italy.
The Frecce Tricolore is the Italian equivalent of the British Red Arrows, and investigators are currently exploring the theory that a bird strike caused the plane to lose altitude. In the video footage, the aircraft can be seen initially flying in formation with other jets before rapidly losing altitude as the other aircraft peel away as part of the display.
Cars are visible along a perimeter road, and the video captures the dramatic moment when the pilot ejects just before the plane crashes into the ground, erupting in a fireball. Fortunately, the pilot survived without injury and was transported to the nearby Giovanni Bosch hospital in Turin. Unfortunately, paramedics were unable to save the young girl.
Officials have reported that the girl’s brother sustained serious injuries in the tragedy, while her parents escaped physically unharmed but were treated for shock.
The air display was part of a centenary celebration for the Italian airforce, but following the accident, all other planes involved in the display landed safely, and the event was immediately canceled.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini expressed his condolences, stating, ‘Terrible accident in Turin, where a Frecce Tricolori plane crashed during an exercise, killing a five-year-old girl and, according to initial reports, injuring her little brother and parents. Except for the pilot, who jumped out with his parachute at the last moment. A frightening tragedy. A prayer and a hug of closeness.’
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto also conveyed his ‘deepest condolences’ for the tragedy, expressing shock and sadness over the crash involving a member of the Frecce Tricolori and a vehicle with a family on board. The Ministry of Defence pledged its support to the affected family.
Nearby Turin airport temporarily closed after the accident to allow the display team to land safely before reopening later. The Frecce Tricolori, formed in 1961, has unfortunately been involved in several accidents, with the most serious occurring in 1988 during an air display in Ramstein, Germany, where three planes collided, resulting in the deaths of the pilots and 67 people on the ground hit by wreckage.
