Two military planes crashed on Wednesday in Meurthe-et-Moselle. One pilot was found safe and sound. An instructor pilot and his student were found dead on Wednesday evening.
This Wednesday, August 14, around 12:30 p.m., an air accident involving two Rafale planes occurred in the morning. The Republican East revealed that two Air Force planes that collided in mid-air crashed near the town of Colombey-les-Belles (Meurthe-et-Moselle), 40 minutes southwest of Nancy.
These are two Rafales from the 3/4 Aquitaine transformation squadron, from the Saint-Dizier air base in Haute-Marne, a two-seater and a single-seater. According to the Air and Space Force on Xthese planes were returning from a resupply mission in Germany.
Three people were reportedly on board. Search operations were launched to find them. One of the pilots was spotted after managing to eject from the aircraft before impact. Although he was injured, he remained conscious. Information that was confirmed by the Minister of Defense Sébastien Lecornu on X.
An accident involving two Rafales from the Rafale 3/4 Aquitaine Transformation Squadron took place in Meurthe et Moselle.
One of the pilots has been found, he is safe and sound. The search is still ongoing. Thanks to our armed forces as well as to the gendarmes mobilized in the
— Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) August 14, 2024
According to AFP, an instructor and a student pilot were on the second plane. On Wednesday evening, Emmanuel Macron reported on X that they had both been found dead: “We learned with sadness of the deaths of Captain Sébastien Mabire and Lieutenant Matthis Laurens, during an air accident during a training mission in Rafale.”
We learned with sadness of the deaths of Captain Sébastien Mabire and Lieutenant Matthis Laurens, during an air accident during a Rafale training mission.
The Nation shares the grief of their families and brothers in arms at Air Base 113 in Saint-Dizier.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 14, 2024
For the moment, the causes of the accident have not been communicated. “Security and judicial investigations are opened to shed light on the reasons for the accident”, the Air Force simply revealed on X. On site, a security perimeter has been drawn up as reported by the prefecture. 33 firefighters have also been mobilized.