A tragic plane crash occurred in Turin on Saturday afternoon: an aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team crashed shortly after takeoff from Turin Airport. A video seen by Repubblica shows the pilot of the plane, an MB-339, ejecting with a parachute as the aircraft was falling. The pilot survived and is hospitalized for burns at Giovanni Bosco Hospital.
However, a family in a car on a country road near the airport suffered a terrible fate: according to initial reconstructions, an incandescent piece detached from the plane hit their car.
Photos from the scene show the condition of the plane after the incident.
The aerobatic team had just taken off for a planned low-altitude flyover in Vercelli as part of an event celebrating the centenary of the Italian Air Force. The event was cancelled.
Victims
A 5-year-old girl, Laura Origliasso, was killed by the flames caused by the impact. The youngest girl died instantly from severe burns, while her 12-year-old brother was taken in critical condition to the Regina Margherita Children’s Hospital. The parents were also injured.
Initial Investigation
According to the initial reconstruction, the aircraft may have impacted a flock of birds and an animal may have entered the engine, blocking it. The pilot told his commander he had engine trouble, then initiated the procedure to abandon the plane, managing to avoid hitting the town of San Francesco al Campo. But after ejecting, the plane crashed to the ground, overshot the runway, and broke through the perimeter fence, causing the car accident.
Reactions
Political leaders expressed dismay and condolences. Investigations into the exact causes are underway.
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Italian Air Force Expresses Condolences
The Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, Air Force General Luca Goretti, on behalf of the entire Italian Air Force, shocked and dismayed by what happened this afternoon at Turin Caselle airport, expresses his deepest condolences to the family of the child who died in the aircraft accident involving a Frecce Tricolori jet.
We await with hope and trust for updates on the condition of the second child and the parents. The formation had just taken off heading to Vercelli, where it was supposed to perform an aerial exhibition, when for reasons still to be determined the Pony 4 aircraft piloted by Major Oscar Del Do’ lost altitude and crashed to the ground. The pilot, right before impact, managed to eject. It is not possible at the moment to confirm the causes of the accident.
One of the hypotheses under consideration, given the dynamics of the event, is that of a bird strike during the very early phases of takeoff. The fire that broke out following the impact of the aircraft on the ground unfortunately involved a car traveling on the airport perimeter with four people on board, causing the death of a child and injuring the other three occupants of the vehicle.
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