Konstantinos Floros chief pays tribute to fallen airman

During the flight over Agios Efstratios and specifically during the passage over the cape Nikolaos Sialmas where the Monument of the same name is located, the General Floros paid tribute to the current day of remembrance of the loss of Lieutenant Commander (I) Nikolaos Sialmas with his Mirage F1, on June 18th, 1992 during an interception mission.

Konstantinos Floros was piloting one of two F-16 jets that flew over the northern, central and eastern Aegean, with the other being flown by Lieutenant General Themistoklis Bourolias, head of the tactical air force.

Floros ended his flight on Skyros, where he congratulated the officers and members of the Hellenic Air Force for their work.

Earlier on Friday, the military commander had visited the air force base in Larissa, central Greece.

Greek Pilots lost at Sea

In 1992, Lieutenant Nikos Sialmas lost his life in the area of Agios Stratis when the old Mirage F-1 he was flying could not withstand the stresses involved in an engagement with a Turkish F-16 and fell into the sea.
In 2006, Captain Kostas Iliakis lost his life in the area of Karpathos after a collision with a Turkish F-16 at 27,000 feet.
The vast majority of air fatalities have involved single-seater or two-seater aircraft, with the exception of the Air Force C-130 airplane carrying 63 servicemen which crashed on Mount Othrys in 1991, killing everyone on board.
More than 1.3 million flight hours have been recorded over the past 28 years involving the interception of Turkish aircraft violating Greek airspace.
As for the financial cost of the fallen aircraft, it is estimated that the damages cost over €20 billion ($24.6 billion) in current prices.