The accident occurred in the Colombey-les-Belles area, a town located southwest of Nancy, on the edge of the Vosges department. A crash involving two military aircraft occurred this Wednesday at midday in Meurthe-et-Moselle and “search operations for the pilots have been launched,” the prefecture said in a statement.
Two fighter jets from the Rafale transformation squadron of the Saint-Dizier air base (Haute-Marne) collided with each other, a spokesman for Air and Space Force in Paris.
The pilot of one of the two planes ejected before impact. He is safe. But the instructor and student pilot who were in the second were still missing early this afternoon, the same source added. “We are still looking for the second crew,” the source added.
An activated research plan
“The departmental operational centre was immediately activated and the SATER (air-land rescue) plan was launched in support of the military forces,” said the Meurthe-et-Moselle prefecture.
She did not report any human toll, indicating that “search operations for the pilots were initiated by the departmental gendarmerie group, the departmental fire and rescue servicethe national forestry office and Adrasec (national federation of radio amateurs in the service of civil security)”. According to The Republican Eastthe pilot who ejected has been located and is believed to be injured.
“The military authority will communicate on the causes of the accident,” the prefecture said. The army specified that all the pilots involved were of French nationality. Ukrainian pilots are currently being trained in France, but at the Cazaux base (Gironde) and only on Alpha-Jet fighters.