Defense sources have confirmed to the SER el death of Commander Eduardo Fermín Garvalena, although at the moment his body has not been found.
A C-101 plane of the General Air Academy #BUT has fallen into the sea in the vicinity of #LaManga #Murcia early this afternoon
– Air Force (@EjercitoAire) February 27, 2020
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The plane, C-101 of the Eagle Patrol, belonging to the Air Force, has crashed in the Mediterranean Sea, one kilometer from the coast of La Manga del Mar Menor, when this acrobatic unit was carrying out a training exercise, around 4 in the afternoon.
I was doing a training session and one of the reactors fell, for unknown reasons, into the water at kilometer 6.5 of La Manga. It so happens that At this same point, commander Francisco Marín died on August 26, 2019., in another accident on another C-101 plane, which also crashed into the sea.
The Air Force reports the discovery of remains of the wrecked plane, while adding that the pilot has not been able to eject from the aircraft. Commander Eduardo Fermín Garvalena, born in 1981 in Granada, counted with a great experience of more than 2,000 flight hours.
The deceased pilot he was responsible for the ‘solo’ of the patrol, the one in charge of taking the plane to its limits in the safest and most spectacular way. Furthermore, it so happens that replaced the pilot Francisco Marín, who died in similar circumstances in August from last year.
This is the third accident that an AGA plane has suffered in the last six months, since on September 18 a Tamar training plane crashed in the Mar Menor, in which the instructor, Daniel Melero, and the third year student Rosa María Almirón died.
Various troops guard the area / Alejandro Moya / Cadena SER
They have immediately moved to the scene three boats sent by the Emergency Coordination Center, with the aim of trying to save the injured pilot. The AGA itself, the Maritime Captaincy and the Government Delegation are coordinating the rescue efforts.
The C-101 models are in the final phase of their useful life and will be replaced by the 24 Pilatus trainer aircraft, whose arrival at the AGA is scheduled for the end of the year with the intention that they begin to be used as training aircraft in September 2021.
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