Italian authorities said on Friday they have recovered the remains of a third missing airman after two Air Force tornado jets collided in midair while on a training mission in central Italy earlier this week.
A fourth airman was reported to be still missing but there was no possibility to find him or her still alive, according to local officials. The three bodies recovered so far have been not identified yet.
Rescue teams over the past three days have continued the search for the two pilots and two navigators, three men and a woman, who were on board the two military planes which crashed into a wooded area near the town of Ascoli Piceno, in Marche region, on Tuesday.
The Italian Air Force said all of the four airmen were experienced. The woman, Mariangela Valentini, 31, had participated in military operations in Afghanistan and Libya.
Local authorities have opened an investigation to ascertain the responsibilities of the collision, which they said may have been caused by a mechanical failure followed by a human error.
The violent accident scattered pieces of burning wreckage, causing raging flames that risked to reach the nearby villages.
Investigators have reportedly found the two black boxes from the planes. The jets were coming from the Ghedi air base in northern Italy.