World

NATO's French, Lithuanian warplanes collide in midair, no casualties

1 / 2

L-39 Albatross

French Air Force Mirage

14:17 30/08/2011

VILNIUS, August 30 (RIA Novosti)

A NATO French Air Force Mirage fighter and a Lithuanian L-39 Albatross trainer collided during an exercise in Lithuania on Tuesday, Defense Ministry spokeswoman Ruta Putnikeke said.

The Lithuanian plane fell and the pilot ejected safely on a lake, Putnikeke said.

The French fighter landed without further incident.

The crash took place around 7:30 GMT near Lake Rekyva not far from Lithuania's Siauliai airbase.

"We regret the incident. We do not know all the circumstances yet. We can only say with relief that there have been no human casualties," Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said.

"Unfortunately, such things happen sometimes."

Lithuania joined NATO in 2004.

Add to blog
Send to friend
Share

Add to blog

You may place this material on your blog by copying the link.

Publication code:

<div style="border:1px solid #d3d3d3; padding:17px 0 0px 17px; background:#ffffff; width:510px;"><div style="width:100%; overflow:hidden;"><a target="_blank" href="http://en.rian.ru/world/20110830/166300964.html" style="text-decoration:none;"><img src="http://en.rian.ru/i/eng/logo_sml.gif" alt="RIA Novosti" title="RIA Novosti" style="float:left; margin-right:10px;" border="0" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://en.rian.ru/world/20110830/166300964.html"><img src="http://en.rian.ru/images/16630/10/166301040.jpg" width="120" height="83" border="0" alt="L-39 Albatross" style="float:right;padding:0px 15px 5px 0px;" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://en.rian.ru/world/20110830/166300964.html" style="color:#000000;text-decoration:none;display: block; margin: 0 10px 0 0 ;"><strong style="font:19px Georgia,Arial,sans-serif; line-height:16px; font-weight:bold;">NATO's French, Lithuanian warplanes collide in midair, no casualties</strong></a><p style="font:13px Georgia,Arial,sans-serif; padding:5px 153px 0px 0;"><span style="color:#5590bf;">14:17</span> <span style="color:#5590bf; padding-right:7px;">30/08/2011</span> <span style="font-size:12px;">A NATO French Air Force Mirage fighter and a Lithuanian L-39 Albatross trainer collided during an exercise in Lithuania on Tuesday, Defense Ministry spokeswoman Ruta Putnikeke said.<a target="_blank" style="color:#335f86; padding-left:10px; text-decoration:underline;" href="http://en.rian.ru/world/20110830/166300964.html" title="NATO's French, Lithuanian warplanes collide in midair, no casualties">>></a></span></p><div style="padding:6px 0 15px 30px; font:10px Verdana,sans-serif;"><a target="_blank" style="color:#114472; text-decoration:underline;" href="http://en.rian.ru" title="RIA Novosti">Other news of the day</a></div></div></div>

Preview:

NATO's French, Lithuanian warplanes collide in midair, no casualties

14:17 30/08/2011 A NATO French Air Force Mirage fighter and a Lithuanian L-39 Albatross trainer collided during an exercise in Lithuania on Tuesday, Defense Ministry spokeswoman Ruta Putnikeke said.>>

Other news of the day