A private plane crashed into the sea on Friday 16 August off the coast of Lavandou (Var) during an air show in which the Patrouille de France was due to participate. The pilot's body has been found. Here's what we know.
On Friday afternoon, an air show organized in Lavandou (Var), in the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Landing in Provence, turned into a tragedy. A Fouga Magister plane crashed into the sea around 5pm, killing the pilot.
The circumstances of the tragedy
The aircraft crashed into the sea at around 17:00, off the coast of Lavandou (Var), in front of a large audience who had come to participate in an air show in which the Patrouille de France (PAF) was also due to give a demonstration, which was cancelled. because of the tragedy. “There was a kind of mini 'boom' and I heard the engine cut off,” said a witness with franceinfo.
Images on social media show the device slightly out of alignment and clearly out of control, crashing into the middle of the pleasure boats. “We wondered if it was part of the show before we realized it was serious,” another viewer added.
The pilot's body was quickly found
The pilot's body was quickly found by the emergency services, coordinated by Cross Med and the Interregional Directorate of the Mediterranean Sea, “with resources from the Var departmental fire and rescue service and maritime gendarmerie”, according to the prefecture.
#AirAccident | The body of the pilot of the civil plane that crashed into the sea during the Lavandou air show has been found \u2935\ufe0f
The prefect of Var, the maritime prefect and the mayor of Lavandou express their condolences to the pilot's family. pic.twitter.com/EawPjBjsiT— Prefect Var (@Prefet83) August 16, 2024
The victim, a former fighter pilot who lost his father under similar circumstances
According to Bruno Clermont, a member of the Center for Advanced Military Studies, the victim is Didier Berger, 65, a former fighter pilot who bought this aircraft about thirty years ago. “You left the world at Fouga's command, dear Didier, welcome to the squadron bar,” concludes the former air corps general in his LinkedIn post.
According to this military, Gérard Berger, Didier's father, “also passionate about this airplane model and a former pilot in the Navy, died in the same circumstances on September 7, 2003. […] in Ajaccio, at the controls of a Zéphyr, the marine version of the Magister Fouga”.
A Fouga Magister type aircraft
The Fouga Magister, a two-seater subsonic jet, is very popular with aviation enthusiasts, but it does not have an ejection seat. This is a model introduced in the 1950s and used by the Patrouille de France between 1964 and 1980 before being replaced by the Alphajet. This device is often used by associations for flight demonstrations during commemorative events.
An open investigation
According to the prosecutor's office in Toulon, the investigation was entrusted to the research section of the air transport gendarmerie. It will go in two directions, Mr. Finielz told AFP: “it will first be necessary to fish out the wreckage of the aircraft so that it can be subject to analysis and expertise, to determine a possible mechanical failure; then there will be either medico-legal assessments, to see if the pilot is unwell.” A security investigation has also been opened by the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis, BEA said on X.