Four dead after two aircraft collide mid-air near Barcelona

Four people died on Sunday after an accident between two ultralight aircraft, above a wooded area, near the Moià aerodrome (Barcelona), the Generalitat regional fire brigade has confirmed.

Several eyewitnesses alerted the emergency services at around eleven in the morning when it was believed only one aircraft had plummeted to the ground after a mid-air collision. A GRAE special actions group helicopter and four ground crews of firefighters were despatched to the area.

The ultralight was found in an area close to Fàbrega. The aircraft had caught fire and the flames spread to the surrounding vegetation. Once the flames were extinguished, the emergency teams found two bodies inside the ultralight.

Later, at around two in the afternoon, a second alert was raised by the aerodrome saying they had lost radio contact with another aircraft believed to be involved in the incident. Four fire crews were deployed in the search for the second aircraft. When it was finally located, another two people were found dead inside.

The second ultralight crashed about 300 metres from the first, but it had "been hidden by the orography", explained the emergency services.

The aerodrome said that each aircraft was being flown by an instructor and student.

The Mossos d'Esquadra regional police’s air safety technical unit (UTSA) is investigating the cause of the crash in association with Spain’s civil aviation accident and incident investigation commission (Ciaiac).

Last July , the pilot of another similar type of aircraft also died near the same aerodrome. It happened when a 74-year-old man crashed as he was trying to land on the runway.