Air Force training plane goes missing in Spain

Contact with a Spanish air force training jet with two pilots aboard was lost today, the Defence Ministry said.

The F5 trainer, made in Spain under licence from US aircraft manufacturer Northrop, went missing at about 1.30pm (12.30pm Irish time), a ministry spokesman said.

The plane took off on a training mission from the Talavera la Real air base in the province of Badajoz, near the western border with Portugal.

No other details were immediately available, the spokesman said.