Aircraft

Both crew members of a German air force Panavia Tornado suffered injuries when they ejected from the aircraft during a landing incident at Büchel air base on 23 March.

Assigned to the service's Fighter Bomber Wing 33 (FBW33), the interdictor strike (IDS) aircraft was performing a night-time training sortie when the accident happened. The swing-wing type came to rest upside down to the side of the runway (pictured below), and suffered extensive damage.

© Luftwaffe

The air force has launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.

Germany's Tornado inventory consisted of almost 170 IDS aircraft before the accident, plus 33 in the electronic combat/reconnaissance configuration, according to Flight's MiliCAS database. The fleet will be reduced as deliveries of the Tranche 2 Eurofighter multirole combat aircraft accelerate from this year, but around 85 are expected to be kept in use until at least 2020.

Büchel-based FBW33 is scheduled to be the last German air force unit to receive the Eurofighter, with the unit expected to begin operating the type in 2013.