If by chance the small town of Peralejos, in Teruel, was the scene of two F-18 accidents separated by 40 years, it is even more surprising that the same person was the first to arrive at both events. This is Juan José Peiró, a 72-year-old retired farmer, for whom this Friday feelings of condolence and astonishment were mixed. “I tried to help as much as I could, but it was no use,” he lamented.
On May 4, 1984, Juan José was in a field with the tractor when a man told him that a plane had crashed. “I didn’t believe it, I thought it was a joke. But I saw how badly the mountain was burning and then it dawned on me,” he recalls. His first decision was to return home to notify the Civil Guard by telephone (landline). “We called Alfambra, but they communicated, then we informed Teruel directly.” And they went there to also see if they could locate the rider: “I ran even though it was a kilometer and a half uphill, but he was 32 years old and he was strong.” There was nothing to do.
“It turns out that both pilots were from Teruel,” he recalls. They were José Hernández Ferry, 33, and Gonzalo Gracia, 26. The two captains, who flew a Phantom, belonged to the 12th Wing of the 121st Squadron at the Torrejón de Ardoz base in Madrid.
This Friday, tragic history repeated itself just three kilometers from the events of 40 years ago. “A young man who saw it from afar told us, several friends took the SUV and we went at full speed to the spot,” explains Juan José. When they arrived, after half past twelve in the morning, they found everything “disintegrated”. “As soon as we arrived, we split up and trekked through the mountains in case we found the pilot alive. We covered a radius of about 200 meters, but we didn’t see anyone. I was hoping to find something, the pilot, the chair, but nothing. And then everyone started arriving. He regrets that the biggest part they could find was “the landing gear pistons.”
On Monday, it was planned to hold an event in memory of the fatal accident in 1984, but it was ultimately suspended, as reported by Peralejos Mayor Carlos López. With this Friday’s accident, the connotations were going to be even more tragic. The tribute would take place at the place where the municipality erected a monument and two plaques in memory of the event, with a brief military ceremony after which a wreath would be solemnly laid.
