Two army pilots killed in mid-air collision in Italy

MISE À DAY

Two pilots from the Italian air force died late Tuesday morning when their planes collided in flight not far from Rome, announced the head of government Giorgia Meloni.

“The news of the death of two Air Force pilots in an air accident in Guidonia, near Rome, fills us with sadness,” she said in a statement, sending her condolences to their families and to the Air Force.

The two pilots were on board two training planes, U-208s, the army said. air in a press release.

One of the two pilots, aged 48, had 6,000 flight hours to his credit, while the second, age 45, had 2,600, said the Ministry of Defense.

The U-208 aircraft is a light, single-propeller aircraft, which can carry, in addition to the pilot, a maximum of four passengers, at a maximum speed of 285 km/h.

The reasons for the collision are not known at this stage.

The public prosecutor's office in Tivoli, near Rome, has opened an investigation into the causes of this accident and ordered the autopsy of the two bodies. The Air Force has also opened an investigation separate from that of Tivoli.