The terrible accident of the Frecce Tricolori in Turin, in which a 5-year-old girl died

@DefAviation ES 9·16·2023 · 23:19 0

The Italian military aviation is experiencing a new day of mourning today, due to a dramatic accident that occurred at the Turin-Caselle Airport.

The mid-air collision between a Swiss Tiger II fighter and a flock of birds in Poland
A risky maneuver by a Frecce Tricolori pilot that leaves anyone stunned

As reported by the agency ANSA, the Frecce Tricolori, the aerobatic patrol of the Italian Air Force, had just take off from that airport heading to Vercelli, to participate in an air festival. The first hypotheses suggest that the Aermacchi MB-339 Pony 4, piloted by Major Oscar Del Dò, could have collided with a flock of birds. As a result, Pony 4 lost power and ended up crashing on the road surrounding the airport.

The pilot managed to eject, but the crash of the plane affected a car occupied by a family heading to San Francesco al Campo. The car left the road, overturned and caught fire. The girl Laura Origliasso, 5 years old, has died. Her 12-year-old brother suffers second-degree burns that covered approximately 15% of her body surface. Her mother has burns on her right arm and her father has burns on 4% of her body. Here is the video of the accident:

You can see here some screenshots of the video with the sequence of events. Here we see the moment of takeoff: the nine MB-339s of the Frecce were in two formations, one of five planes, on the right, and another of four, on the left. Pony 4 is the aircraft seen furthest to the right in the formation of five.

Here we see Pony 4 falling after suffering an engine problem, supposedly due to a collision with a flock of birds.

The moment of the ejection of Major Oscar Del Dò. The pilot of Pony 4 waited until the last moment and finally jumped out of his plane when he saw that it was impossible to save it.

The explosion of Pony 4 after crashing. We see the large fireball that formed and, above it, the parachute of Major Oscar Del Dò.

The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has published this message about what happened at 22:29 CET:

"I am shocked by what happened today at the Caselle aeroclub in Turin during an exercise by the Frecce Tricolori. The death of little Laura Origliasso, after the terrible accident of one of the planes of the National Acrobatics Team, made me It deeply saddens and leaves me speechless. On my behalf and that of the entire Government, I express my closeness and condolences to the family of the deceased girl and extend my best wishes for a speedy recovery to his parents and his little brother who were injured in this tragedy."

I join her condolences. Rest in peace.