Greek, Turkish jetfighters collide over Aegean A Turkish and a Greek jetfighter collided over the southern Aegean Sea on Tuesday, apparently during the routine interception of the Turkish jetfighter after it entered the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) by a Greek Airforce plane. A massive search and rescue operation by air and sea was immediately mounted for the pilots of the two airforce jets, which collided at around 12:50 p.m., 15 miles south-southeast of Karpathos island. Alternate government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros told a scheduled press briefing shortly afterwards that Greek search and rescue vessels, including a Super Puma helicopter and seagoing vessels, were speeding to the area of the crash. "It is an extremely regrettable incident," he said. According to a later report by the Greek Armed Forces General Staff, the Turkish pilot was safe and had been picked up by the Panama-flagged and Japanese-owned merchant ship "Gaz Century", while a Greek 'SuperPuma' search-and-rescue helicopter that arrived on the scene 20 minutes after the crash was still searching for the Greek pilot. It also confirmed that the Turkish aircraft had not submitted a flight plan to the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR). Antonaros said that prime minister Costas Karamanlis, who was in Paris for the OECD ministerial council, was immediately informed of the incident by Defence Minister Evangelos Meimarakis, and added, in reply to press questions, that the prime minister's was not hastening his return to Athens. According to an ANA correspondent in Paris, meanwhile, the prime minister immediately contacted Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis in Finland, where she is currently on a visit, and asked her to return to Athens. Though he will not be returning to Athens early, Karamanlis has decided to leave an OECD official dinner early this afternoon and return to his hotel room, in order to contact his government in Athens and be updated on the latest developments. The Greek premier intends to go through with plans to host a dinner for ministers and foreign dignitaries attending the OECD Forum scheduled to take place on Tuesday night, however. The foreign ministry in Athens, meanwhile, later issued a press release announcing that Bakoyannis and her Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul had spoken on the phone on Tuesday, expressing their regret over the incident and agreeing that it should not be allowed to affect the efforts of Greece and Turkey to improve bilateral relations. Defence Minister Evangelos Meimarakis and the leadership of the Greek Armed Forces have been in session since the incident occurred to monitor developments. Source: ANA