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Italy: Mid-air collision kills two air force pilots

March 7, 2023

The pilots were training in lightweight planes when they collided. No cause has yet been given for the crash.

https://p.dw.com/p/4OM7N
Birds flying while Italian Air Force acrobatic unit Frecce Tricolori (Tricolored Arrows) performs during a ceremony after the signing of the Franco-Italian Quirinal Treaty
The mid-air collision happened northwest of RomeImage: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

Two Italian Air Force pilots were killed when a mid-air collision occurred during training exercises being conducted near Guidonia Air Base, roughly 25 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of the capital Rome.

The exercises were being conducted in lightweight SIAI-Marchetti S.208 training aircraft — single-engine vehicles capable of carrying up to five individuals including the pilot. The planes have a top speed of 285 kilometers per hour (177 mph).

No cause was given for the collision, nor were any injuries reported on the ground.

Italy's ANSA news agency said one plane fell onto a parked car while the other landed in a field.

Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni expressed her condolences to the family and friends of the pilots as well as to the Air Force.

"We are devastated to hear about the deaths of two Air Force pilots during a training exercise near Guidonia," said the politician.

js/ar (AFP, AP)