Spanish F-18 Fighter Jet Crashes Near Madrid During Take-off, Pilot Killed

A Spanish F-18 fighter crashed on take-off killing the pilot at a military base near Madrid Tuesday.

This is the second fighter jet crash in Spain in a week. A Spainsh Eurofighter crashed near to the Los Llanos air base in Albacete south of Madrid last Thursday killing the pilot.

"The pilot of the airplane has died as a consequence of the accident, which happened during take-off," the Spanish defence ministry said in a tweet following the crash near the Torrejon de Ardoz base, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Madrid.

"Rescue teams are on their way to the scene of the accident," a ministry spokesman told AFP, adding that the cause of the crash was as yet unknown.

Two other Eurofighter jets crashed in Spain in 2010 and 2014, both times killing the pilot.