A five-year-old girl was killed when an Italian aerobatic team plane crashed near Turin. Two adults and a nine-year-old boy were also injured and taken to hospitals in Turin with burns. According to the information, the dead woman is the daughter of the two adults and the boy is her brother. The pilot of the plane was able to save himself because he catapulted himself out of the plane with his parachute in time, the Ansa news agency reported late on Saturday afternoon.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the accident occurred during training of the aerobatic team “Frecce Tricolori” for a performance to mark the 100th anniversary of the air force. Sunday’s performance was canceled after the accident.
A video on social media shows the plane, an MB-339, separating from its ascending formation shortly after takeoff and flying downwards again at high speed. Shortly before contact with the ground, the pilot activates his ejection seat, is catapulted out of the cockpit and the aircraft crashes and bursts into flames.
According to an initial reconstruction, a burning part of the plane hit the family’s car, which was driving along a country road right next to the airport and also burst into flames after the collision, as Italian media reported in the evening. Aerial photos of the scene of the accident suggest that the jet hit the ground at an acute angle at the end of the airport, exploded, burned through a fence and an embankment and hit the vehicle on the road behind.
The cause of the accident is so far unclear. However, the Turin newspaper “La Stampa” reported that the plane may have collided with a flock of birds and that the pilot may have lost control of the aircraft as a result.
