The Mirage 2000-5 crashed approximately 9 miles northeast of #Skyros island returning to its base after a dog fight with turkish fighter jets thta violated #Greece´s airspace @BILD https://t.co/3xa0GqW2c4
— Liana Spyropoulou (@LSpyropoulou) April 12, 2018
More in the Daily Mail
A Greek air force plane has crashed into the eastern Aegean Sea after returning from a mission to intercept Turkish aircraft, killing its pilot.
Officials said the Mirage 2000-5 crashed Thursday north of the island of Skyros but gave information about the possible cause of the crash.
The Hellenic Air Force said in a statement that authorities lost contact with the jet some 9 miles northeast of the island at 12.15 p.m.
Patrolling has intensified in recent weeks amid a spike in tensions between Greece and Turkey and near-daily mock dogfights in disputed airspace.
Greek navy ships and army helicopters are searching for the missing pilot.
Greek soldiers fired warning shots at a Turkish helicopter after it approached a tiny Greek island of Ro in the eastern Aegean on Monday.
The Turkish coastguard helicopteer, flew along the outer limit of the air control identification zone between the two countries, both members of Nato.