Breaking: Tears as Military Aircraft Crashes During Parade
- A Greek Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed during a live air show at Tanagra airport near Athens on Saturday, September 5
- Black smoke rose metres above spectators watching the event as two helicopters were deployed to fight the resulting fire
- A Greek Air Force official confirmed a search and rescue operation was launched, with the fate of the two pilots still unclear
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A Greek Air Force F-4 Phantom two-seat fighter jet came down on Saturday during an air show at Tanagra airport, located near the Greek capital Athens, a military official confirmed to Reuters.
Footage broadcast by Greek public television channel ERT, which broke the story, showed a thick column of black smoke rising just a few hundred metres from crowds gathered to watch the display. Two military helicopters were seen working to bring the blaze under control at the crash site.
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The official said the condition of the two pilots on board had not been established, and it was also not clear whether any spectators in the surrounding area had been hurt.
Search and rescue under way at Tanagra
"A search and rescue operation is under way," the official said, without providing further details on the scope of the response.
Loudspeakers at the air base were directing people to evacuate the area, according to ERT's reporting from the scene.
Tanagra is a major Greek Air Force installation and a regular host of military aviation events. The F-4 Phantom, an ageing but still operational aircraft in the Greek fleet, had been performing as part of the scheduled air show programme when the incident occurred.
No further information on the cause of the crash was immediately available.
See the video of the moment on X here:
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