The scenario of the NATO exercise in January 2015, at the Los Yanos Air Base in Spain, involved a two-seat Greek F-16 flying second in an “Arrow” formation. 

Its mission was to protect a formation of friendly aircraft. However, shortly after take-off, the aircraft went from air to ground in just 7.8 seconds. Despite activation of the ejection seats, both crew members did not survive.

In March this year, a decade after the fatal crash, a Greek court ruled in favour of the families of the two Greek pilots, awarding compensation from the American manufacturing company.

The court held that Lockheed Martin had failed to take all appropriate safety measures and must pay substantial damages to the relatives of the two pilots. The crash was attributed to the aircraft being improperly balanced for take-off, due to the inadvertent movement of a switch that adjusts the pitch of the aircraft’s rudder blades.

Also read: USA | F-16 Viper Shield EW for allied countries

The background

On January 26 2015, the F-16 crewed by 35-year-old captain Panagiotis Laskaris and 31-year-old co-pilot Athanasios Zagas, was scheduled to carry out an air combat mission as part of the NATO exercise at Los Llanos air base, six kilometres south of the town of Albacete.

Under normal circumstances, standard pre-flight checks are carried out at the start of the taxiway, at the runway’s edge. However, the Greek squadron, along with other NATO participants, had performed these checks in the aircraft parking area prior to taxiing — a practice long considered “common” to avoid congestion near the runway involving both aircraft and ground crews.

Approximately 20 minutes before take-off, the checks were completed. At 3:16 p.m. local time, just 7.8 seconds after take-off and after a sharp right bank, the aircraft crashed near the D-4 building of the air base. Captain Laskaris attempted ejection one second before impact, and Zagas followed half a second later. However, the aircraft’s attitude and low altitude rendered the ejection systems ineffective.

The court ruled that Lockheed Martin, the jet’s manufacturer, failed to take all necessary safety precautions.

As a result of the crash, the two Greek crew members and nine French military personnel lost their lives, while 33 others (21 French and 12 Italian) were injured. Additionally, a French Mirage 2000D, a French Alpha Jet and an Italian AMX were destroyed.

The F-16, delivered to the Hellenic Air Force on 7 January 1997, had accumulated 4,056.6 flight hours. According to the Athens Air Court, which also examined the case, the two Greek aviators were fully qualified, physically fit, and had clear toxicology reports.

Captain Laskaris had recently been certified as an instructor and had logged 1,527 flight hours — 940 of them in this specific aircraft model. Co-pilot Zagas was certified to lead a four-aircraft formation and had logged 1,140 flight hours, including 536 in the F-16.

Also read: Ukraine | Presentation of the first F-16s

According to the court documents, the accidental activation of the YAW TRIM knob and ROLL TRIM switch on the manual trim panel occurred instantaneously, 20 minutes before take-off, within just 3 seconds. This adjustment altered the pitch of the aircraft’s rudder blades, leading to a “dramatic impact on aerodynamic parameters immediately after take-off.”

At the time of the accident, the F-16 lacked any visual or auditory warnings — or a take-off prohibition — in the event of incorrect trim settings. As the court noted, other fighter jets such as the F-18, F-15, and Mirage 2000 had such features at the time.

The NATO Safety Investigation Committee concluded that the YAW TRIM switch was likely moved unintentionally by the impact of an object, possibly the bulky checklist folder handled by the pilot. This theory was considered plausible by the committee.

However, the Tripartite Court of Appeal of Athens deemed this explanation speculative, as there was no concrete evidence — either documentary or testimonial — confirming that improper storage of checklists had occurred in this specific case.

Lockheed Martin denied responsibility, arguing that the aircraft was structurally intact and that all systems functioned correctly after engine start. The company stated that the switch in question was not defective and was adequately protected from unintentional movement by two lateral ‘P’-shaped metal guards and three rubber rings.

From 2018-2019, the manufacturer  began installing a visual warning system on the central digital console in F-16 aircraft. Greek jets received this upgrade through the VIPER modernisation programme. The Tripartite Court of Appeal viewed this development as a tacit admission by the manufacturer of a previously unaddressed safety issue.

The judges concluded that an alternative design of the trim panel could have prevented the crash — and that such a design was feasible at the time, not dependent on later technological advances.

Also read: Turkey | New air base for F-16 fighter jets opposite Rhodes and Kos

With information from: Kathimerini