ARCHIVED - Patrulla Águila and air force academy jets in San Javier to be replaced by Swiss aircraft

A pilot was killed in August when his C-101 crashed into the Mediterranean off La Manga

Spain’s Ministry of Defence has announced that the C-101 jet planes used by pilots at the air force training academy in San Javier (the Academia General del Aire, or AGA) are to be replaced by the autumn of 2021, reawakening suspicions that the death of former Patrulla Águila pilot Commander Francisco Marín in August when his plane plunged into the Mediterranean just off La Manga del Mar Menor may have been caused by technical failure in the aircraft.

In a tragic few weeks for the AGA this was the first of two fatal accidents, the second involving a trainee and her instructor on 16^th September who crashed into the Mar Menor, although on that occasion the C-101 was not involved.

The C-101, which has been in use at San Javier for 40 years and has become a common sight in the sky above the Mar Menor and the east of the Region of Murcia, will be phased out gradually to be completely replaced for the 2021-22 year at the AGA by the Swiss-manufactured Pilatus PC-21, a turboprop plane rather than a jet. The acquisition of 24 aircraft will cost the Ministry over 204 million euros (at just over 8.5 million each), representing a 9 per cent saving on the budget originally set aside in April – before the death of Commander Marín, it should be noted, indicating that the replacement of the C-101 was already planned before the fatal accident.

Among the features of the Pilatus which made it the preferred option over a bid submitted by Textron Aviation Defense are land-based training systems, two cabin simulators and the turboprop engine, which is similar to fifth-generation fighter planes and provides trainees with a complete aeronautical training from their first flight experience to the moment they are ready to pilot actual fighter planes.

The first six new planes are scheduled to be delivered as early as March 2020 but will be used as trainer aircraft from the 2021-22 course onwards, while the Ministry now weighs up options to replace the 149 F-5 planes currently used at the AGA in “hunt and attack” training (phases III and IV of the program).

But the phasing out of the C-101s will not only affect trainee pilots: the Patrulla Águila aerobatics squadron will also be making the transition to the Pilatus, and it is reported that while on the one hand they have a sentimental attachment to the jets they have been flying for decades the new aircraft is technically superior. Similarly, there are feelings of regret that the Spanish-made C-101 is to be replaced by a Swiss plane, but on a practical level there is ample justification.

Image: Pilatus

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