According to the report, the fighter jet’s control system malfunctioned, but it has yet to be determined if this affected the flight control system or the control stick itself.
El Pais says that the Greek jet made a sudden 45-degree right turn towards the hangar, where Italian as well as French jets were getting set to join NATO exercises (with the participation of some 30 jets from 7 countries).
The Greek jet was the fourth plane to take off and managed to climb to about 13 meters (40 feet) before the tragic incident occurred. Both Greek pilots managed to eject themselves from the craft, but due to the steep inclination they crashed. Their bodies were recovered near the hangar a little later on.
Based on the Spanish military investigation commission CITAAM (Comisión de Investigación Técnica de Aeronaves Militares) preliminary report, the Greek jet crashed on the runway, exploded and then it later slid and crashed into the parked Italian and French air crafts.
The Spanish paper clarifies that all necessary security measures and precautions had been taken and as such concludes that the tragic incident was the end result of a series of unfortunate events.