2nd airman found dead after fighter jet crash
The 2-seater F-4E Phantom II crashed in the sea during a training exercise Monday and the body of the co-pilot, 29-year-old Lt. Marios Touroutsikas, was located shortly afterward.
The search for the 31-year-old pilot, Maj. Stathis Tsitlakidis, had continued, involving helicopters, patrol boats, navy divers and an unmanned submersible.
“The news of the loss of Maj. Tsitlakidis has compounded our national grief. The Air Force and all of Greece are in mourning and we honor them,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote in a tweet.
Air Force officials gave no details on the training exercise or how the bodies of the 2 airmen were discovered, but State-run television reported that the pair had been practicing low altitude maneuvers.
The exercise was conducted out of Andravida Air Base in the southern Peloponnese region, some 275 kilometers (170 miles) west of Athens. (AP)
Moreover, authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash.
The airmen had reportedly issued a distress signal and were in the process of abandoning the aircraft when it went down.
Greece first acquired the US-made F-4, or Phantom fighter jets, in 1974.
The funeral of Lieutenant Marios-Michail Touroutsikas, the co-pilot aboard the F-4 “Phantom” fighter jet that crashed in the Ionian Sea on Monday, will be held in the city of Tripoli on Thursday.
The Hellenic Air Force General Staff announced that the funerary service will be held at the Profitis Ilias Church at 10.30 a.m., while the flying officer will be laid to rest at the Agios Ioannis Pikerniou cemetery later that day.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to travel to Tripoli on Thursday morning to attend the funeral.
The funeral of Lieutenant Marios-Michail Touroutsikas, the co-pilot aboard the F-4 “Phantom” fighter jet that crashed in the Ionian Sea on Monday, will be held in the city of Tripoli on Thursday.
The Hellenic Air Force General Staff announced that the funerary service will be held at the Profitis Ilias Church at 10.30,, while the flying officer will be laid to rest at the Agios Ioannis Pikerniou cemetery later that day.
