A Spanish military plane is said to have crashed in the sea off La Manga, according to local media. There is no information yet on the whereabouts or the condition of the crew although it is understood to comprise of just the one pilot, who is said to have ejected from the aircraft by witnesses, although this is yet to be confirmed.
The aircraft is said to belong to the Spanish Air Force Base in nearby San Javier.
The emergency centre say that they received hundreds of calls from witnesses who saw the accident. The rescue service has now been deployed and is searching the area for signs of the crew but as yet there is no further information.
Sources say that the aircraft crashed into the sea at 0938 am this morning (Monday 26 August) just 4km off the La Manga headland, with sources from the San Javier City Council and the local Air Force Academy saying that they are aware of the event. They identified the aircraft at a C101 reactor. The number of crew on board is unknown.
Witnesses say that the plane was manoeuvering, and that it tried to climb too late and crashed into the sea. There was no explosion.
The Emergency Coordination Center 112 of the Region of Murcia confirmed that around a hundred calls have been received alerting them to the accident, indicating that “a fighter had been seen crashing into the sea.”
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The mayor of San Javier, José Miguel Luengo, said that the plane, a C-101, type ‘hunter’, which is often used by the Spanish Airforce display team the Eagle Patrol, la Patrulla Águila, has plummeted into the sea, in the area of La Manga Souk.
At the moment, craft from the Copla Emergency Plan are mobilised in search of the crew, involving Maritime Rescue, Red Cross and Civil Guard, while the causes of the accident are still unknown.
