AFP

Two French pilots missing after Rafale jets collide in mid-air

Two French Rafale jets collided in mid-air on Wednesday in a rare accident involving the state-of-the-art military aircraft, and authorities launched a desperate search for two crew members. One pilot was able to eject after the crash over northeastern France, but an instructor and a student pilot on the second jet were missing. The two supersonic jets were from Saint-Dizier air base, an air force spokesman in Paris told AFP. “One of the pilots was found safe and sound,” Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on social media platform X. “The search is still ongoing,” he added after the crash, thanking the armed forces and police involved in the operation. The cause of the collision, which authorities said occurred over Colombey-les-Belles, a town in northeastern France, was not immediately clear. “The military authorities will report on the cause of the accident,” the local prefecture said. The Rafale multirole fighter – used to hunt enemy aircraft, attack ground and sea targets, conduct reconnaissance and even carry French nuclear warheads – has become a best-seller for the French arms industry. Accidents involving Rafale jets are rare. – ‘Strange noise’ – “We heard a loud noise around 12:30 p.m.,” Patrice Bonneaux, deputy mayor of Colombey-les-Belles, 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 knocking sound.” “I assumed two planes had collided, but we didn’t believe it,” he said, adding that a 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. This was believed to be the first Rafale crash. In September 2009, two Rafale aircraft crashed off the coast of Perpignan after a test flight on their way back to the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. One pilot died. France has sold the Rafale to Egypt, India, Greece, Indonesia, Croatia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Lecornu said in January that France had ordered 42 new Rafale fighter jets, with the first to be delivered in 2027. The French military has now ordered more than 230 Rafales since the jet entered service. French President Emmanuel Macron has urged arms manufacturers to increase production and innovation as Europe looks to increase arms supplies to support Ukraine, which has been struggling to fend off Russian invasion for three years now. dsa-dla-apz-as/tw