Air Accident at Spanish Airbase in Albacete: Minister Pinotti refers before the Parliament

Rome 27 January 2015

Today Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti spoke before the Senate about the major air accident which took place yesterday in Spain, at Albacete Air Base. Personnel from various NATO countries, including Italy, were injured. They were participating in “Tactical Leadership Programme” (TLP)training activities

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12 Italian military were injured. One of them, W.O. Giuseppe Romata, 3rd Division Aircraft Maintenance-Treviso, was hospitalized at Madrid La Paz University Hospital in serious conditions.

Other 6 Italian soldiers who have suffered light wounds are still under observation at Hellin Hospital, while other 5, including a pilot, are already back at Albacete Base.

In her urgent report to the Senate, Minister Pinotti illustrated the event that took place yesterday at Albacete Base, Spain, especially in connection with Italian military involved in the incident.

The Minister explained that, for reasons that are still being investigated, a Greek F-16 aircraft crashed on takeoff, causing a major fire on the runway, where operational missions of other NATO countries’ aircraft were under preparation. The incident resulted in the death of 10 people, 8 French military personnel and 2 Greek pilots, injuring at least other 25 crew members.

She stated that she “will go to Spain as soon as possible to visit the Italian military personnel”, and that she “immediately called the Italian Commander at the Base and, subsequently, the Spanish Defence Minister, to get further details and express her condolences on this tragic event”. She will also express her condolences to the Greek Minister.

“Due to major problems at the TLP runway it is impossible at the moment to assess damages- the Minister explained, adding that one of the Italian Air Force AMX aircraft was damaged by the fire that broke out after the Greek aircarft crashed to the ground.

Italy is taking part in the TLP course with an Air Force detachment made up of 30 military personnel and 2 AMX aircraft and a Navy detachment made up of 38 personnel and 5 Harrier AV-8B aircraft.

The Tactical Leadership Programme – which has been implemented in Spain since 2009- is a NATO training programme established in 1978 on the basis of an Agreement signed by Spain, US, UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, Germany and Denmark. Italy joined in in 1996, with aircraft detachments provided by the Air Force and the Navy.

The objective of the programme is to increase the effectiveness of air operations conducted by the Allies and enhance multinational cooperation in this sector.

More specifically, activities being conducted at Albacete, scheduled to take place from 19 January to 13 February, fall within the yearly 4 Flying Courses (FC) sessions included in NATO 2015 planning, involve Air Force and Navy aero-tactical assets.

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