Two fighter jets from the Rafale conversion squadron at Saint-Dizier (Haute-Marne) Air Base collided at Meurthe-et-Moselle this Wednesday, August 14.
An accident involving two Rafale jets from the Air and Space Forces occurred at noon on Wednesday in Meurthe-et-Moselle and “search operations” were initiated for two pilots, according to the prefecture and the General Staff.
One pilot was ejected before the collision
Two fighter jets from the Rafale transformation squadron collided with each other, an Air and Space Force spokesman said in Paris. The pilot of one aircraft was ejected before impact. Wounded, according Republican Lorrainehe would still be safe.
An instructor and his student pilot wanted
But the instructor and student pilot in the second were still missing as of early afternoon, the same source added. “We're still looking for the second crew,” she added. “The departmental operations center was immediately activated and the SATER (air-ground rescue) plan initiated in support of the military forces,” the prefecture of Meurthe-et-Moselle said in a press release.
Plane crash in the Colombey sector: the departmental operational center is activated in support of the armed forces to coordinate the search.
Avoid the area and follow the instructions of the authorities pic.twitter.com/mtWzCqOPDR— Prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle (@Prefet54) August 14, 2024
“The search operations for the pilots were initiated by the departmental gendarmerie group, the departmental fire and rescue service, the National Forestry Office and ADRASEC (the national federation of radio amateurs in the service of civil security),” she added, stating that the accident occurred ” in the area of Colombey-les-Belles”.
“The military authority will communicate about the causes of the accident”, stated the prefecture. Accidents involving Rafale are relatively rare.
The reaction of Minister Lecornu
The Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, announced that the accident occurred between “two Rafales from the Rafale Transformation Squadron 3/4 “Aquitaine””. A squadron based at Saint-Dizier Air Base (Haute-Marne).
In Meurthe et Moselle there was an accident involving two Rafales of the Rafale Conversion Squadron 3/4 “Aquitaine”.
One of the pilots has been found and is safe. Research is still ongoing. We thank our armed forces, as well as the gendarmes mobilized in…
— Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) August 14, 2024
The army clarified that all the pilots involved were of French nationality. Ukrainian pilots are currently trained in France, but at a base in the southwest and only on Alpha-Jet fighters.
“It was a strange noise.”
“I heard a big noise, maybe around 12:30. We often hear planes passing by, but it wasn't the crossing of the sound barrier, it had nothing to do with it,” said Patrice, the deputy mayor of Colombey. les Belles. “There was a strange noise, a percussion noise. We assumed that two planes had collided, but we couldn't believe it,” he added, stating that a departmental road at the edge of the forest was set up cordon of gendarmerie. .