Dassault Mirage

Hellenic Navy divers on Saturday located at a depth of 800 meters north of Skyros signals from the flight recorder of the Mirage 2000-5 which plunged into the sea in the central Aegean on Thursday, killing the pilot Captain Giorgos Baltadoros.

Greece is in awe of the silent patriotism and professionalism of the young pilot who died Thursday in the line of duty after his fighter jet crashed into the Aegean Sea when he was returning from a mission.

The pilot of the single-seat Mirage 2000-5 was doing his job, earning a very modest salary, with just few hours of training and limited resources.

The death of a Greek fighter jet pilot on Thursday whose Mirage 2000-5 crashed into the sea north of the central Aegean island of Skyros after returning from a mission to intercept Turkish jets is a grim reminder of the deadly tally incurred by the Hellenic Air Force in the last few decades.

Greece's air force and the country at large are mourning the death of a pilot Thursday whose single-seat Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet crashed into the sea north of the central Aegean island of Skyros after returning from a mission to intercept Turkish jets.

The Hellenic Armed forces declared three days of national mourning.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Thursday paid tribute to the Greek air force pilot who was killed when his Mirage 2000-5 crashed into the central Aegean shortly before landing on the island of Skyros earlier in the day.

The Greek fighter jet pilot who was killed on Thursday when his plane crashed into the central Aegean, was identified by the Hellenic Air Force as Captain Giorgos Baltadoros.

A Greek fighter pilot was missing on April 12 after his Mirage 2000-5 plane came down in the Aegean Sea after allegedly intercepting Turkish jets, Greek state TV ERT said.

A search was under way after a Hellenic Air Force fighter jet crashed into the sea off the coast of Skyros. 

The Mirage 2000-5 jet fell some nine miles northeast of the island which is part of the Sporades group near the central Aegean, according to a statement issued by the Hellenic Air Force. 

Greek fighter jets - two F-16s, two F-4s and one Mirage 2000 - flew over Athens on Monday in practice for the March 25 military parade, according to reports.

The annual parade marks the March 25, 1821 anniversary of Greek independence from Ottoman rule.

The video showing the rescue of the 28-year-old Mirage 2000 pilot from the sea has been released by the Hellenic Air Force General Staff.

Just a few minutes after ejecting from the jet fighter, the 28-year-old pilot was found in the open sea of the Sporades where he was rescued by the Super Puma less than an hour later.