Pilot Killed in Deadly Crash at Madrid Air Show

A pilot died at a Madrid air show after the historic jet crashed into a hanger and exploded in a fireball. The accident happened Sunday as 3,000 spectators looked on.

Ladislao Tejedor Romero, 35, an experienced jet pilot and assistant to Defense Minister Pedro Morenes, died later of his injuries in the serious burns unit of Getafe hospital.

Spectators were at Cuatro Vientos airfield watching a showcase of aerial acrobatics and vintage aircrafts. Suddenly, one of the first jet-propelled planes to be manufactured in Spain crashed and sent a fireball and thick dark smoke into the air.

The plane, a HA-200 Saeta, was a built in the 1950s as an advanced jet trainer by Hispano Aviacion, ministry spokesman Alfredo Florenza said.

Florenza said the cause of the crash was not known. Video footage from a stunned spectator shows the plane diving at high speed before hitting a building. Spanish airport authority AENA said no one else other than the pilot was injured.

However, Europa Press news agency reported three others were injured: two were taken to the hospital, a rescue worker suffering from burns and a 57-year-old man suffering from an anxiety attack, believed to be the pilot's father. A third rescue worker suffered from smoke inhalation and received first aid at the scene, the agency said.

Cuatro Vientos, which means Four Winds, is the oldest Spanish airport and was previously used as an air base. It lies about 10 miles from central Madrid and was visited by Pope John Paul II in 2003 on his last trip to Spain.