[gatagato]

They narrowly missed a village. Two charred bodies were recovered in the last hour, no civilian casualties on the ground. The two other crew members are officially missing, but most likely (if not for sure) they lost their lives as well

• The four crew aboard the crafts are missing after the jets crashed into a hilly, wooded area, near Ascoli
• Witnesses from nearby villages reported seeing a fireball as the jets collided and erupted in flames
• It isn't known whether the two pilots and two navigators managed to eject from the jets but a search is underway

Alessandro Dotto, Paolo Piero Franzese,
Mariangela Valentini, Giuseppe Palminteri

Two Italian air force fighter jets have collided during a training mission - narrowly missing a village in eastern Italy.
It isn't known whether the two pilots and two navigators managed to eject from the Tornado jets, and are now missing after the crafts crashed into a hilly, wooded area, near Ascoli.
Witnesses reported seeing a fireball as the jets collided and erupted in flames. An air search is now being conducted for the missing crew, the air force said.

Witnesses quoted in Italian news reports said they saw two military planes flying low near Ascoli, then heard a crash and saw flames.
Residents in the nearby villages of Olibra and Venarotta have reported hearing a bang.
They said the fire broke then out on the ground.
A search and rescue operation is now underway and Italian media has reported that parts of the crafts have been found.
On the ground, firefighters battled various blazes in the wooded hills overlooking the Marche town of Ascoli Piceno, as the flames drew closer to the village of Casa Murana

http://www.ansa.it/marche/notizie/20...b9830fd1c.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...t-country.html

This is the moment two Italian air force fighter jets collided during a training mission - narrowly missing a village in eastern Italy


The crash in a wooded area near the town of Ascoli Piceno in the Marche region sparked a forest fire. The Tg1 television footage showed flames and columns of billowing smoke at the scene


The pilots are presumed to have ejected before the collision - which sparked this forest fire - and survived, Ansa reported, although they have not yet been found and witnesses said they had not seen any parachutes deployed


On the ground, firefighters battled various blazes in the wooded hills overlooking the Marche town of Ascoli Piceno, as the flames drew closer to the village of Casa Murana


Firefighters at work after the collision of two Italian Air Force jets over the Marche region. A search operation is also underway for the four crew members


Residents in the nearby villages of Olibra and Venarotta have reported hearing a bang. They said the fire broke then out on the ground. A search and rescue operation is now underway and Italian media has reported that parts of the crafts have been found



A Civil Protection official, Susanna Balducci, told Sky TG24 TV there were no civilian casualties on the ground after the crash Tuesday afternoon in woods near the town of Ascoli, but she had no details about the fate of those aboard the aircraft



A helicopter sprays water on the flames burning the bush as residents and reporters look on. Witnesses told Italian media they saw two military planes flying low near Ascoli, then heard a crash and saw flames


The two Italian Airforce Tornado fighters (stock picture) were based at Ghedi in north-west Italy. It has been reported that they were flying low at the time of the collision

[vipersna]

There goes the entire Italian air force

[gatagato]

Originally Posted by vipersna ↗

There goes the entire Italian air force

Nah, there are still 43,996 ( + 13,100 reserve) personnel and 714 aircrafts left.

[Kelseecat65]

[DLESS]

I crashed last night after i had the italian air forced outta me from eating a few of these bad boys.

[BigFoot]

These photos look like Michael Bay's vacation photos to Italy.


Really pretty countryside there, I'm marveling at that more than the actual crash.

[MCBR]

Sad state of affairs indeed. The media have talked about it extensively for the past few days.

[ices]

Italians.

Cant drive ships. Can't fly planes.

[gatagato]

Originally Posted by ices ↗

Italians.

Cant drive ships. Can't fly planes.

LOL, that's true: Columbus discovered America completely by accident, indeed