Two fighter jet pilots died after their plane collided with another and crashed in France, according to the French military.
‘Brothers in Arms’
The pilot of the first plane ejected and suffered only minor injuries.With no news from the crew, significant resources were deployed to the scene to locate them, according to authorities. After a search of several hours, authorities found the bodies of the first two pilots in a forest.
The wreckage of the other two-seater Rafale was found later in the afternoon in the town of Harmonville (Vosges).
“We learned with sadness of the deaths of Captain Sébastien Mabire and Lieutenant Matthis Laurens, during an air accident during a Rafale training mission,” he wrote.
“The Nation shares the grief of their families and brothers in arms at Air Base 113 in Saint-Dizier.”
Military and judicial investigations are underway into the causes of the accident.
Rafale
The Rafale is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation, which has been servicing the French Air Force since 2006.India, Qatar, Egypt, and Greece also use the aircraft in their armed forces.
The warplane specializes in permanent “Quick Reaction Alert,” a state of readiness and modus operandi of air defense maintained at all times by NATO allies.
This means it is used for air defense, air policing missions, nuclear deterrence duties, power projection and deployments for external missions, deep strike missions, air support for ground forces, reconnaissance missions, and pilot training.