Serving Air Force man and civilian flight instructor die in Murcia plane crash

Neither the Mar Menor flying club, to which both had belonged for years, nor sources close to the investigation knew what could have happened to the two experienced pilots. On a clear-sky afternoon, they climbed into the light aircraft as they had done so many times before. Minutes later, at around 5pm in the afternoon, the plane plunged from the sky and crashed into the ground.

The 47-year-old flying instructor Hugo López, who has taught many flight classes on the airfield, leaves behind a young son. Second Lieutenant Baños, 54, was currently stationed at the NATO air base in Geilenkirchen-Teveren (Germany), and had a daughter. Despite his European posting, Baños frequently returned to San Javier, where he had lived for many years and where, according to his friends, he wanted to return in the future.

Baños was an expert mechanic, a specialist in aircraft electrical systems, but above all in internal combustion propeller engines. With a high command of English and his experience in aircraft mechanics, Baños directed the electrical team at the German base, where he frequently flew with the crew of the giant AWACS, the E-3A aircraft equipped with early warning systems that are used to detect disturbances or threats in air corridors.