Greek, Turkish fighter jets crash

[Zeeshan S.]

Greek, Turkish fighter jets crash


ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- The body of a Greek pilot was found Tuesday, hours after his fighter jet collided with a Turkish F-16 during a mock dogfight over the southern Aegean Sea, according to Turkey's foreign ministry.

The Turkish pilot ejected safely and was rescued. The Greek F-16 had been dispatched to intercept the Turkish jet because it had violated Greek airspace, according to the Greek Defense Ministry.

Both fighter jets were maneuvering around each other in a mock dogfight when the crash happened around 1 p.m. (6 a.m. ET) about 12 miles east of the Greek island of Karpathos, the ministry said. (Click here to see map of area)

The ministry said the crash happened over international waters.
The pilot of an EgyptAir commercial jet witnessed the incident while on a flight to Cairo, a Greek Defense Ministry official said.
The collision highlights an ongoing dispute between Greece and Turkey, both members of NATO, over the boundaries between their airspace and territorial waters.

Archrivals Greece and Turkey regularly criticize each other for causing mock fights between warplanes over the Aegean sea.

Greece's defense ministry says it daily scrambles several fighter jets to intercept Turkish jets that it claims have invaded its airspace.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul phoned his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyanni, who is visiting Helsinki, the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement, Reuters reported.

"The two foreign ministers expressed their regret for today's incident and agreed that this should not affect the two countries' efforts to improve their relations," the statement said.

The two countries, who came close to war as recently as 1996, have considerably improved ties but have not resolved territorial disputes in the Aegean Sea and over the divided island of Cyprus.

"This incident will not do any good," Thanos Veremis, of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy think tank, told Reuters. "I think it will increase Greek frustration."

 

[Zeeshan S.]

Now thats what i call competition between the air forces, thats how should the respond be, but lets not crash into each other.

 

[melb4aust]

Trust me man, this is quite alarming for both nations who came pretty close to a war in 1996. This is not the first time such thing happened, Turkish F-16 regularly voilates Greek airspace and chase their P***enger jets without harming them(Like TOM & JERRY:stupid: ). Its getting seriouse, losing a fighter plane to an opponent is not something a nation would like to have.

Whats next.......watch closely:shocked:

 

[Majnun]

Agree with Zeeshan but crashing alright if its the Greek who goes down and not the Turk.

 

[Majnun]

How often does this happen?

 

[solid snake]

You bumped a 2 year old thread.

I don't understand this concept of 'mock dogfights' between rival air forces. There's several videos on YouTube of Greek and Turk F-16s circling each other without firing. What's the point? Just go home if you're not going to engage, boys.

If Greece thinks it's airspace is being violated, it should shoot down the intruders.