RSAF Tornado IDS crash, both crew ejected OK

[Tintin]

Arab News - Monday 16 November 2009

DAMMAM: A Saudi Royal Air Force Tornado fighter jet crashed in the desert along the Riyadh-Dammam Expressway on Sunday during a training exercise.

“Nobody died or was injured as a result of the accident, which was caused by a technical fault,” said Capt. Ali Mubarak Al-Qahtani, spokesman for the Civil Defense in the Eastern Province.

He added that the pilot and his assistant pilot were able to safely eject from the plane prior to crashing.

Al-Qahtani said the crash took place at 12.22 p.m. in Jaishiya, 135 km from Dammam, adding that the plane was completely burned out.

“The plane crashed in a place away from the expressway. This helped in reducing material damage,” he added.

Al-Qahtani said the Civil Defense sent two fire fighting teams from Al-Ahsa and Abqaiq to attend the crash. They, however, arrived at the spot late because of the difficult terrain.

“We have handed over the remains of the plane to the King Abdul Aziz Airbase in Dhahran,” he said.

A number of accidents involving Tornado and F-15 fighter jets have occurred in the Kingdom in the past. In January 2004, two crewmembers of a F-15 plane died in a crash during training at the King Abdul Aziz Air Base.

According to a source, the plane crashed into a restaurant inside the base and resulted in the death of an Egyptian worker at the restaurant. Two other workers — an Indian and a Filipino — were injured in the crash.

Two other Tornado fighters also crashed due to technical failures in separate incidents in June and July 2001.

In the first incident, the pilot and copilot ejected safely from the British-made plane. The two-member crew in the second, however, died.



Aircraft involved given as serial 701 on Iconic Aircraft website