Air force ace pilot killed in La Manga

Experienced instructor and ex-member of the Patrulla Águila aerobatic team, Francisco Marín, died during a routing training exercise on Monday off La Manga del Mar Menor

A SPANISH air force major based at the San Javier training academy (AGA), Francisco Marín died on Monday at 09.38, when the C-101 jet he was piloting crashed in the Mediterranean Sea off La Manga del Mar Menor.

The crash was witnessed by beachgoers and some recorded it on their mobile phones and posted the videos on social media.

Remains of the pilot and the fuselage were washed ashore by the strong currents to Glaúa, Entremares and Monte Blanco in La Manga.

Access to these beaches was banned for several days so as not to interfere with the rescue operations.

About 300 people – including the air force and the navy, Guardia Civil, Protección Civil, local police, maritime rescue services, Red Cross and the ‘112’ emergency services - were involved in the rescue operations.

According to the military authorities, a large part of the jet – including the cockpit - is on the sea bed and had been detected by the radar of the navy ship Turia.

The recovery of the jet is crucial to find out why the aircraft crashed and whether the pilot had managed to eject or not before the impact.

The Ministry for Defence revealed that major Marín was performing one of the training exercises, which are compulsory for all flight instructors at the AGA, when he crashed into the sea.

The AGA’s assistant director, José María Alonso said that he was certain that Major Marín had tried to get the jet back to its initial position until the very last minute.

He described Major Marín, who was born in Murcia in 1978, as ‘a lovely and cheerful guy’, who was ‘really committed to his missions, aerobatics and his job as a flight instructor’.

The ministry assured that major Marín knew the C-101 jet perfectly, since he was an experienced instructor and pilot who has won international medals and served on several international missions and was a member of the Patrulla Águila aerobatic team until 2018.

He was in fact considered the most skilful member of the squad and had therefore awarded the solo pilot position, who performs the most spectacular and risky manoeuvres.

The Spanish Air Force has opened an investigation to find out why the jet crashed during the exercise, which consisted of performing a sudden drop and rise.

The C-101 jets are 40-yearold aircrafts, which are due to be replaced in 2021.

Some of them have been slightly adapted to be used by the Patrulla Águila and the rest are used to train the future combat and jet pilots at the AGA.