Two fighter planes collide in France, two pilots die

2024-08-15 11:28:58Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Two fighter planes collide in France, two pilots die

Two French pilots have died after their Rafale jets crashed in mid-air in eastern France in a rare accident. The news was announced by President Emmanuel Macron.

"We are saddened to learn of the death of Captain Sebastien Mabire and Lieutenant Matthis Laurens in an air accident on a Rafale training mission. The nation shares the pain of their families and comrades in arms at the 113 airbase in Saint-Dizier," Macron posted on X.

At midday on Wednesday, two Rafale jets from the Rafale Transformation Squadron (ETR) at Saint-Dizier Air Base, in Haute-Marne, collided with each other on their way to a resupply mission in Germany.

"Captain Sébastien Mabire, an instructor, and Lieutenant Matthis Laurens, a trainee pilot, were in a two-seat Rafale on a training mission at the time of the crash," the Ministry of the Armed Forces said in a press release on Wednesday evening, while one of the pilots were found safe and sound.

"The pilot of the first Rafale was ejected and was found slightly injured by the emergency services", specifies the Ministry of the Armed Forces, adding that "the wreckage of the other Rafale with two seats, in turn, was spotted later in the afternoon in the town of Harmonville (Vosges).


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