Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou expressed the government's and the nation's sorrow over the deadly mid-air crash of two Greek military airplanes off Crete island in southern Greece on Thursday, Xinhua reported.
A Greek Air Force pilot died and two of his colleagues were injured, one of them seriously, in the collision of the two F-16 planes off the south western coast of Crete.
"The pain due to the tragic death of a pilot of the Greek Air Force while on duty is deep. On behalf of the Greek government I express condolences to the victim's family. Our thoughts, at these difficult times, are with them, as well as with the two pilots which are hospitalized. We wish them a quick recovery," said Papandreou.
The tragedy occurred during a training exercise with the participation of a total of six fighter jets. There were three crew members on board of the two F-16s which had taken off from a military base in Crete.
Greek experts are investigating the incident, but according to early estimations it is attributed to human fault.