The body of one of the two pilots has been found after an F-4 Phantom training aircraft crashed earlier on Monday in the sea area of ​​Katakolo, a seaside town in the municipality of Pyrgos in western Elis in the Peloponnese.

The tragic news was confirmed by the announcement of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff (HAFGS) one pilot was found dead, while the search for the captain continues.

As the HAFGS announcement states:

On Monday, January 30, 2023, at 10:30 a.m., a two-seater F-4 Phantom II aircraft of the 338th Squadron of the 117th Fighter Wing, which was performing a training flight, crashed in the sea area 25 nautical miles south of Andravidas airport, with resulting in the fatal wounding of the co-pilot, Lieutenant (I) Marios – Michael Turoutsikas, 29 years old. Investigations continue for the captain, Sminagos (I) Efstathios Tsitlakidis, 31 years old.

Meanwhile, the first debris from the F-4 Phantom that crashed into the sea this morning was transported by Coast Guard vessels to the Katakolo port pier.

Since the morning, the large search operation in the sea area of ​​Katakolo has been in full progress.

It is recalled that as protothema.gr wrote, the operators of the F-4 failed to eject in time, and were performing “low navigation”, that is, a flight with a minimum limit of 300 feet. They are an Air Force captain and a lieutenant colonel who were the two pilots of the 338 Squadron Phantom.