An initial report from investigators has placed the likelihood of the fatal collision between two German Eurofighter Typhoons (Eurofighters) on June 24 on pilot error, having ruled out mechanical failure, according to German news magazine Der Spiegel. The collision between the two fighter jets occurred during a training exercise in Northern Germany, with one of the pilots being killed and the other successfully ejecting from his plane before it crashed.
Germany has a 130+-strong fleet of Eurofighters, which has been cleared by investigators to resume normal flight duties. Focus of the investigation into the crash is understood to be on whether one of the pilots failed to see the other plane during a high-risk pursuit drill, or that positioning messages were misheard over the radio, according to Reuters news agency.
The concept for the Eurofighter began as the Future European Fighter Aircraft program in 1893 and the fighter jet is manufactured by a European consortium comprising Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo, conducting the majority of the project under the holding company Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH. Its first flight was in March 1994 and it was introduced into service in 2003. It is currently flown by national air forces in Europe and the Middle East, including Germany, Italy, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the U.K., while Kuwait and Qatar have both placed orders for the jet.
Up until this most recent incident, the Eurofighter has been involved in seven crashes, of which five were fatal, in a total of 240,000 flying hours of a combined 406 aircraft.
