Two military training jets collide; pilots safe: MoD

Al Jazeera
Doha: Two military training aircraft have collided in mid-air without causing any casualties in Qatar as both pilots ejected safely, according to the Gulf nation’s defence ministry.

The incident was announced on the ministry’s Twitter account on Wednesday without mention of the date or time of the incident.

“During a training flight a collision occurred between two training planes and the pilots were able to safely get out by using the ejection seat,” the statement said, without elaborating on the type of the aircraft.

Qatar is home to the massive Al-Udeid Air Base, which hosts US Central Command’s forward headquarters and thousands of American troops.

Lieutenant Colonel Christine D Millette of US Air Force Central Command says US officials are “aware of the Qatari midair collision, but we have not been asked for support at this time”.

Qatar has spent about $30bn on military hardware since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain imposed a land, sea and air blockade of the Gulf neighbour in June 2017.

أعلنت وزارة الدفاع اليوم، عن تصادم طائرتي تدريب عسكريتين أثناء رحلة تدريبية، ونجاة طاقميهما دون إصابات.

وذكرت الوزارة في بيان لها اليوم “أثناء رحلة تدريبية وقع تصادم بين طائرتي تدريب، وتمكن طاقم الطائرتين من الخروج بسلام باستخدام الكرسي القاذف”.