Two Rafale planes crash near Nancy, two pilots found dead

Two military planes crashed on Wednesday in Meurthe-et-Moselle. A pilot was found safe and sound. An instructor pilot and his student were found dead on Wednesday evening.

< p>This Wednesday, August 14, at around 12:30 p.m., an air accident involving two Rafale aircraft occurred in the morning. L'Est républicain 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 Rafale 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 X, these planes were returning from a refueling mission in Germany.

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Three people were reportedly on board. Search operations were launched to find them. One of the pilots was located after he managed to eject from the aircraft before impact. Although he was injured, he remained conscious. Information that was confirmed by Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu on X.

According to AFP, an instructor and a student pilot were on the second plane. On Wednesday evening, Emmanuel Macron informed on X that they were both found dead: “We are saddened to learn of the deaths of Captain Sébastien Mabire and Lieutenant Matthis Laurens, in an air accident during a training mission in a Rafale."

For the moment, the causes of the accident have not been press releases. “Security and legal investigations are underway to shed light on the causes of the accident”, the Air Force on X simply revealed. On site, a security perimeter was drawn up as reported by the prefecture. 33 firefighters were also mobilized.