During the training flight in the skies over Estonia, the pilot of the Spanish fighter Eurofighter made an unplanned launch of the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile.

It happened on August 7 at 15:44 in the sky over the winter capital of Estonia, the town of Opel, which is home to about 4 thousand people. Opel - a world-class ski center. The rocket could fall 40 kilometers from the city of Tartu. The cause of the launch could be a system failure or negligence. The missile is equipped with a self-destruct system. The fighter returned to the airbase.

This fighter, located in Estonia within the framework of the NATO mission, was the Spanish Air Force hastily sent "to the reserve". And in the skies of Estonia, the Air Force of Spain will be replaced by the Portuguese unit. The population is warned that if a missile is found, which can still not self-destruct: "Do not touch the find, go to a safe distance and call 112". The search for a rocket is in progress..

This rocket has a length of 3.7 m, a diameter of 18 cm, it carries from 5 to 10 kg of explosives, but has less force than the bomb. AIM-120 AMRAAM - American all-weather guided air-to-air missile of medium range with a range of 55-180 kilometers. It is designed to defeat air targets beyond the line of sight of the target.

Commander of the Estonian Air Force Rivo Valge told local media that such a launch was the first in the history of the air defense of the Baltic States and in general a rare case in the whole world practice. In the investigation of the incident, the Estonian Air Force, the Spanish Air Force and NATO.

The head of the headquarters of the Estonian Air Force found out about the incident only an hour and a half after the state of emergency. It is known that the operation of the airport in Tartu was not broken.

In his Twitter, the event was commented on by the Russian senator, the head of the Federation Council Committee on Information Policy Alexei Pushkov: "If a rocket fired from a military aircraft suddenly lands and explodes on the outskirts of city N in Estonia, now it should guess from where the missiles are flying".