Spectators watched in horror as two
ultra-light planes flew into one another at an Italian air show – leaving one
pilot dead and another injured.
The incident happened on
the same weekend that a third light aircraft crashed on a tourist
beach near Rome, just 150 miles away on the opposite coast, narrowly
missing sunbathing tourists and families with children.
The two experienced pilots
who flew into one another were heading for the Spiaggia d’Argento Air Show
in Alba Adriatica on Italy’s east coast.
Luigi Wilmo Franceschetti,
43, crash-landed, but second pilot Marco Ricci, 47, died after the wing of his
aircraft sheared off in the crash.
A witness told Corriere della Serra: ‘We were walking along the seafront of Tortoreto, we saw two planes flying at low altitude and not very fast.
‘When they clashed we
heard a bang. Help arrived instantly, both by sea and by land.’
Airshow organisers posted two brief messages on the event’s
Facebook page, saying: ‘Our hearts go out to all the relatives of Marco
Ricci. RIP.
‘And we wish a speedy
recovery to pilot Luigi Wilmo Franceschetti.’
No other aircraft were involved in the second incident, which saw
a small plane forced into an emergency landing – believed to be due to a
mechanical failure – at Santa Severa, 30 miles up the coast from Rome.
The unnamed pilots, who
both survived the crash, are thought to have been taken to a local
hospital and an investigation has been launched.
Video footage from the
scene shows hundreds of onlookers gathered around the wreckage, with the
propeller buried in the sand at the water’s edge.
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