The RNLI have said that two people have been picked up by helicopter after two RAF Tornado jets crashed in the Moray Firth.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Tornado GR4s, which have a pilot and navigator, were from RAF Lossiemouth, on the Moray coast.
RAF Lossiemouth, the coastguard and RNLI have been alerted to the incident.
The MoD said one of the aircraft had been seen in the water and the other was classed as "missing".
Buckie, Invergordon and Wick lifeboats have been launched and an RAF helicopter has been involved in the search.
The RNLI said the two people rescued have been flown to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
An MoD spokesman said: "The RAF are aware of an incident involving two Tornado GR4 aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth in the Moray Firth.
Moray Firth A search has started in the Moray Firth
"The incident is being investigated and more information will be provided when available."
ShanwickOceanic wrote:How does it work if you're flying formation - are you meant to trust the lead completely and concentrate on holding your position? In other words, if the lead aircraft piles in, what prevents his number 2 from following?
Click Click D'oh wrote:That depends on what type of formation flying you are doing. Tight formations like you see at airshows, yes, you are flying completely off of the leads airplane. There have been instances where whole formations have crashed because the lead ship went in.
New York Times wrote:The mechanical failure involved a jammed stabilizer, the component that keeps a plane steady in flight, on the tail of Thunderbird One, the T-38 training jet being flown by Maj. Norman L. Lowry 3d, the Air Force said in a report released earlier this month. The report said the other pilots, doing what they had been trained to do, did not break formation with their leader as they performed a maneuver known as a line-abreast loop. All four planes crashed into the Nevada desert near the Indian Springs auxiliary airfield, 40 miles northwest of Nellis Air Force base.
