LISBON (Reuters) – Two stunt planes collided in midair on Sunday during an air show in the Portuguese city of Beja and one of them crashed and exploded into flames, killing its Spanish pilot, the Portuguese Air Force (PAF) said.
The PAF, which organized the show at an air base in Beja, 180 km (110 miles) south of Lisbon, said the accident involved aircraft from the YAK STARS aerobatic patrol.
The patrol includes Portuguese and Spanish pilots and was described by the PAF as the “largest civilian aerobatic team in southern Europe”.
Air force captain Patricia Fernandes told broadcaster RTP that “one of the pilots, with Spanish nationality, died and another pilot was injured”.
After the accident, the PAF decided to cancel the Beja AirShow, Portugal’s biggest air festival.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Giles Elgood)
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