Beachgoers in Aveiro got such a shock yesterday that the story made it into the British tabloid press, while information on Portugal’s wildfires is still barely getting a mention.
A clip of the incident (see below) shows just how low a military plane swooped over the heads of people, and just how difficult it was to see it approaching due to the thick haze caused by the raging fires nearby.
Surfer Nuno Arrojo said it “felt like the plane was going to come down on top of me”, while on the sand Daniel Fernandes was one of scores who posted dramatic footage on social media.
He said the plane “passed really low twice and there was a point where it looked like it was going to crash”.
According to the Mail, the P-3C Orion was on a training mission, tracking fishing boats along the coast.
It “had to drop so low” because of the clouds caused by the smoke in the atmosphere, but the paper said the airforce has “insisted” no-one’s safety was compromised.
The incident happened on Costa Nova, on Thursday afternoon, says the Mail, adding in its final paragraph that “wildfires have devastated parts of mainland Portugal this summer, as well as killing four people on the island of Madeira”.
For video see: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3735813/It-looked-like-going-crash-Tourists-Portugal-terrified-jet-flies-low-busy-beach.html
