French Pilot Missing After Rafale Aircraft Mishap
By pierre tran
Published: 25 Sep 2009 10:12
Paris - French ships and aircraft were searching the waters off the coast of Perpignan in southern France on Sept. 25 for the Navy pilot of one of two Rafale fighter aircraft that crashed into the sea after an apparent collision the previous day.
The search for the downed pilot would continue "as long as necessary," Defense Minister Hervé Morin said, the French Navy Web site reported. "As long as there's hope of finding him," he added while speaking to journalists on board the carrier Charles de Gaulle.
France is in negotiations for the sale of 36 Rafales to Brazil as part of the FX-2 fighter procurement program.
The two Rafales went down about 30 kilometers east of Perpignan around 6 p.m. Sept. 24 as they headed back to the carrier after a training flight, the Navy said. The aircraft were not carrying armaments and were engaged in validating parameters for catapult takeoff.
"This was a flying accident," Morin said. The collision between the two aircraft "had nothing to do with the plane."
A Navy helicopter picked up one of the pilots, Capt. Yann Beaufils, who ejected as his aircraft went into a spin after registering a shock.
The rescued pilot, after ejecting, saw the other Rafale continue flying, and the radar track was lost a few minutes later, Morin said.
A midair collision was the most likely hypothesis, a French Navy spokesman said.
France has deployed a naval coast guard ship, an Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft, a Hawkeye surveillance aircraft from the Charles de Gaulle, a Navy Falcon 50 jet, a Lynx Navy helicopter as well a Dauphin helicopter from civil security service in the search.
The authorities are also sending a tug with undersea equipment for locating aircraft wreckage and have asked for help from a Spanish ship.
Last year, a French Air Force pilot was killed when he crashed in his Rafale in the countryside in the Corrèze region. The crash inquiry concluded the pilot had suffered from "spatial disorientation."
French Pilot Missing After Rafale Aircraft Mishap - Defense News
