An officer with the Colombian air force is dead following an accident involving two military planes on a training mission – after his aircraft collided with another causing massive damage.
Tragically, Colombia Fuerza Aérea Lieutaenant Colonel Mario Andres Espinosa lost his life during the incident, the country’s military has confirmed – while the other officer operating the second aircraft survived and has since been hospitalized.
Horrifying footage of the crash, which happened on Saturday, is currently circulating on social media – and shows how 18-year veteran Espinosa’s craft bursts into flames upon impact before plummeting to the ground below.
The unnamed pilot of the other craft, however, managed to make an emergency landing – with officials revealing Sunday he is safe, under medical observation, and that the state of health is ‘stable.’ The full extent of his injuries remain unknown.
The incident transpired during training for the upcoming annual independence parade in nearby Bogotá, officials said – at the Captain Luis Francisco Gómez Niño Air Base in the city of Villavicencio.
Footage of the crash, which happened Saturday, is currently circulating on social media – and shows how an 18-year vet’s craft bursts into flames upon impact, before plummeting to the ground below
Tragically, Colombia Fuerza Aérea Lieutaenant Colonel Mario Andres Espinosa lost his life during the incident, the country’s military has confirmed – while the other officer operating the second aircraft survived and has since been hospitalized
Soldiers are now engaged in mourning after the sudden loss of a stalwart comrade, who, according to his social media, flew for the force for at least 13 years, and, according to his higher-ups, left behind a family.
The Fuerza Aérea Colombiana said in a statement at 9:37pm ET. ‘We express our condolences and solidarity to the family of the deceased pilot, Lt. Colonel Mario Andrés Espinosa González and to each of the men and women of the Institution.’
Posted to social media, the update was accompanied with an image of Espinosa in uniform, and came more than four hours after footage of the crash began surfacing online.
It also offered a brief eulogy in the form of an inspirational quote.
Translated from Spanish, it read: ‘Pilots don’t die, they just fly higher.’
In another statement, penned hours earlier, military officials outlined some of the still sparse details of the crash – which is currently being investigated.
‘The @FuerzaAereaCol regrets to inform that two T-27 Tucano aircraft, on a training mission, crashed at the 2nd Air Combat Command,’ the Saturday statement read.
In it, the aviation force – one of three branches comprising the country’s military – confirmed the crash occurred at roughly 5:28pm local time (6:28pm ET), and involved only the ‘two T-27 Tucano aircraft’ piloted by the two men.
The pair, officials added, had been flying in formation with three other identical fighter planes while ‘carrying out a training mission,’ before crashing over the Air Combat Command No. 2 in Apiay, Meta.
Soldiers are now engaged in mourning after the sudden loss of Lt. Col. Espinosa, who flew for the force for 13 years, and, according to his higher-ups, left behind a family
Officials added Sunday that ‘there are no more crews and/or people involved in the unfortunate incident’, while electing to not release the name of the second pilot involved.
The crash was caught on camera by at least two Colombians who had been watching the practice air procession from below, in anticipation of July 20’s highly attended aeronautical fair.
In one widely viewed clip, the two low-flying planes are seen getting dangerously close – as the rest of the five-plan fleet looks on – before eventually colliding.
Espinosa’s craft combusts and begins to descend rapidly.
