Story highlights 11 people died and 20 others were injured, according to the Spanish Defense Ministry A Greek Air Force F-16 jet has crashed in Spain during a NATO training exercise, a Spanish official says <\/p>\n
Nine were French military personnel, and two were Greek pilots, a senior Spanish defense official told CNN. <\/p>\n
The jet crashed on takeoff, hitting other planes on the ground during a NATO training exercise, said the source, who by custom was not named. <\/p>\n
Twenty people were injured, according to a statement from the Spanish Defense Ministry. All those hurt are either French or Italian. <\/p>\n
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he was \"deeply saddened\" by the crash. <\/p>\n
\"This is a tragedy which affects the whole NATO family. I express my heartfelt condolences to the loved ones and the nations of those who lost their lives, and I wish a speedy recovery to the injured,\" he said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\"The plane was taking part in an exercise in the framework of NATO's Tactical Leadership Programme, which aims to improve multinational cooperation in air operations,\" Stoltenberg said. <\/p>\n
The NATO flight training course at the Spanish base has 750 participants, including pilots, ground crews and other support, from nine countries: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Denmark and Greece, the Spanish air force reported on its website last week. <\/p>\n
It was expected to be a four-week program, from January 19 to February 13, with training to prepare pilots for tactical missions, including nighttime missions, the site said. <\/p>\n
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10 die in F-16 NATO exercise<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Story highlights 11 people died and 20 others were injured, according to the Spanish Defense Ministry A Greek Air Force F-16 jet has crashed in Spain during a NATO training exercise, a Spanish official says Nine were French military personnel, and two were Greek pilots, a senior Spanish defense official told CNN. Continue reading