File photo shows a Eurofighter jet taking off at the Moron airbase near Seville in southwestern Spain on April 21, 2008

A Eurofighter jet crashed on Monday while landing at the Moron air base in southwestern Spain near Seville, a defence ministry spokeswoman said.

"A Eurofighter has crashed on landing on the runway of the Moron base," she told AFP. She was not able to confirm media reports that the pilot had died in the crash.

The Moron air base is shared by Spain and the US Air Force, but only Spain operates the Eurofighter jet.

Defence group BAE builds the fighter jet with European aerospace group Airbus and Italian defence contractor Finmeccanica.

The Eurofighter consortium, Europe's largest defence programme, is in fierce competition with other fighter-jet makers such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Dassault Aviation.

Last month the head of Airbus' defence division, Bernhard Gerwert, said the consortium would stop making the Eurofighter jet in 2018 if it did not win new export contracts for the fighter jet.

Talks were underway to sell Eurofighter jets outside of Europe, to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Malaysia, he added.