«It was a strange noise, a thumping sound»
Two fighter pilots killed in plane crash in France. An instructor and a student pilot were killed during a training flight, and a third pilot ejected in a rare accident involving a Rafale military jet.
Two French pilots were killed after their Rafale jets collided in mid-air over eastern France in a rare accident involving the newest military aircraft, President Emmanuel Macron said.
One pilot ejected after the crash over northeastern France on Wednesday, but authorities launched a desperate search for the missing instructor and student pilot on the second plane, Agence France-Press reported.
«We are saddened to learn of the death of Captain Sebastien Mabir and Lieutenant Matthis Laurence in a Rafale crash during a training mission,» Macron wrote on Twitter.
«The nation shares the grief of their families and their brothers in arms at the 113th Air Base in Saint-Dizier» in eastern France, he added.
«One of the pilots has been found safe and sound,» Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said earlier on the X social network.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collision, which authorities said happened over Colombey-le-Bel, a town in northeastern France.
“Military authorities will announce the cause of the accident,” the local prefecture said.
The Rafale supersonic multirole fighter, which is used to hunt enemy aircraft, strike land and sea targets, conduct reconnaissance and even carry nuclear warheads, has become a best-seller for the French arms industry.
Accidents involving Rafale jets are rare, Agence France-Press reports.
“We heard a loud noise at around 12:30 (10:30 GMT),” Patrice Bonneau, deputy mayor of Colombey-le-Bel, told AFP.
It was not the usual sonic boom of a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier, he said. “It was a strange noise, a thumping sound.”
“I assumed two planes had collided, but we didn’t believe it,” he said, adding that the road bordering a nearby forest had been cordoned off.
In December 2007, a Rafale jet crashed near Neuvic in southwestern France. Investigators concluded that the pilot had become disoriented. It was believed to be the first Rafale crash, Agence France-Press recalls.
In September 2009, two Rafale jets crashed while returning to the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier off the coast of Perpignan after completing a test flight. One pilot was killed.
France has sold Rafale to Egypt, India, Greece, Indonesia, Croatia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Agence France-Press notes.
In January, Minister Lecornu announced that France had ordered 42 new Rafale fighters, the first of which will be delivered in 2027. Since the plane entered service, the French military has ordered more than 230 Rafales.
Macron has called on defense manufacturers to step up production and innovation as Europe seeks to increase arms supplies to support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, Agence France-Press notes.