The two fighter jets had been flying along with a third plane, whose pilot witnessed the crash and saw two parachutes falling to the ground, the airforce said earlier.

"One of the pilots was recovered dead. The second was able to save himself with his parachute and he is alive. Rescue services are taking care of him," said the airforce on Twitter.

Separately, a spokesman from the airforce's Squadron 73 had said both pilots were able to activate their ejection seats.

Based in Laage, close to Baltic Sea city Rostock, Squadron 73 trains German airforce pilots to fly the Eurofighter.