Deep mourning has gripped the Hellenic Air Force following the deaths of two Phantom pilots, 40-year-old Ioannis Blesias and 37-year-old Dimitrios Petrou, who were killed when their aircraft crashed near Tanagra shortly after midday.
According to reports, both men were highly experienced airmen from the 348th Tactical Fighter Squadron “Aris,” each with more than 1,500 flight hours. They had been assigned to perform a demonstration flight as part of an air show at Tanagra, watched by thousands of spectators.
Just after 2:30pm on Saturday, as the crowd waited to see the aircraft take off and run through its aerobatic routine, the F-4 Phantom lifted off and, roughly two to three nautical miles from the runway, began losing altitude sharply. Within about a minute, the jet made a low pass at a steep angle of descent before crashing some four kilometers from its takeoff point, in an industrial area.
Most of the aircraft came down on a factory roof, while debris and metal fragments were flung as far as 200 meters from the impact site, landing in yards, garages and parking areas of nearby businesses.
The two pilots had no time to escape the aircraft. Reports so far indicate there was no time to activate the ejection system. Investigators are also looking into whether the crew tried to steer the jet away from populated areas and the crowd gathered at the Tanagra air base before it went down.
A short time later, firefighters, military personnel and rescuers found both pilots dead at the scene.
The crash sparked a large fire that spread rapidly, fueled by strong winds and flammable materials at the factory and surrounding businesses. Fire services mounted a major response, with 95 firefighters, 29 vehicles, ground crews and rescue teams on site, backed by continuous water drops from firefighting aircraft and helicopters.
The blaze was brought under control late in the evening.
Authorities cordoned off the crash site and collected the wreckage, which will now be examined by the air accident investigation board. The central question facing investigators is what caused the F-4 Phantom to lose altitude so suddenly — and why its two experienced pilots were unable to eject in time. Answers are expected once the ongoing technical investigation is complete.
