ARCHIVED - Uncertainty over the future of the Patrulla Águila aerobatics display team based in San Javier

Two leading pilots have died in crashes off La Manga del Mar Menor in the last 6 months

After the tragic death last Thursday of the fourth pilot in six months at the Spanish air force’s Academia General del Aire in San Javier, the immediate future of the “Patrulla Águila” aerobatics display team, which is also based on the shore of the Mar Menor, appears to be in serious doubt.

Two of the three accidents involving aeroplanes from San Javier have resulted in the deaths of leading Patrulla Águila pilots while flying C-101 jets, with both of the victims (Commander Francisco Marín last August and Commander Eduardo Garvalena last week) having occupied the position of solo flyer within the team. This post, which requires pilots to fly close to the limits of their aircraft, is now vacant again, but it appears that there is no hurry to fill it as the team, which was formed in 1985 and has been delighting spectators ever since, has suspended its appearances for the time being.

One of the roles of the solo flyer is to train his or her successor, and the untimely death of Eduardo Garvalena leaves the unit without anyone to take over his position: as a result, the other six members of the team need to re-assess how to perform their manoeuvres without a “star performer”, and the immediate consequence is that they are unable to continue their training as planned prior to the start of the summer season.

The 2020 appearances by the Patrulla Águila had been due to start on 30^th May at an event in Huesca to celebrate Armed Forces Day, but with sources quoted as saying that the squadron is not resuming its normal activity there is uncertainty over whether this means a delayed start to the season or its complete cancellation.

In the meantime, the AGA maintains that the age of the plane piloted by Commander Garvalena was not the cause of his death, and has not yet ruled out pilot error or a collision with a flock of birds. However, other pilots at the academy (apart from the aerobatics team) will not be flying at altitudes below 3,000 metres.

The problems faced by the Patrulla Águila were just one of the issues discussed on Monday with Margarita Robles, the Minister for Defence, during her second visit to the AGA in three days. Others included claims made by leading air force officers that another 8,000 personnel are needed to cover current needs following the budget cuts in Defence since 2011: nine years ago the national government was spending over 1,000 million euros a year on the air force, but by 2014 the figure had been reduced to 191 million euros.

Images: Patrulla Águila Facebook

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