Yesterday, March 25th in the afternoon, two Alpha Jet airplanes of Patrouille de France crashed near the city of Saint-Dizier, France. This was announced by the country's Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu on his X page here.
According to information provided to the AFP agency by the French Air and Space Forces, the two airplanes collided near the 113th airbase in Saint-Dizier at 15:35 local time. Both pilots and one passenger ejected in time and survived.
Reportedly, they are in relatively serious condition, with two of them taken to the hospital. The third victim, who suffered multiple injuries (polytrauma), is under the supervision of military doctors.
As a result of the collision, one of the jets crashed into a silo and caught fire. According to preliminary reports, no civilians were harmed. Firefighters, ambulance services, and police have arrived at the scene of the accident.
Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu emphasized the "full coordination being carried out between the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defense."
Additionally, the SATER plan (Sauvetage Aéro-Terrestre) has been activated in the country to conduct search and rescue operations on land and in the air.
For your information, the Alpha Jet is a joint development by the French company Dassault and the German company Dornier. It is a light attack aircraft, which is also used as a training aircraft.
