View Full Version : Missing Rafale Pilot
hungryhorse
24th Sep 2009, 19:21
Fingers crossed for a successful rescue....
Two French Rafale fighter planes crash in sea | Top News | Reuters (http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE58N51Y20090924)
Duncan D'Sorderlee
24th Sep 2009, 19:35
Concur. Thoughts with the family.
Duncs:ok:
Squirrel 41
24th Sep 2009, 23:59
Good luck chap - here's hoping for some good news. A real quality bunch from the few times I've worked with them.
S41
wings folded
25th Sep 2009, 11:33
According to French radio, one of the pilots recovered safe and sound, the other still missing.
Spanish assistance for S&R has been given
wiggy
25th Sep 2009, 12:32
Agreed, sadly not looking good:
Le Figaro - France : Crash de deux Rafale : un pilote toujours porté disparu (http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2009/09/25/01016-20090925ARTFIG00419-crash-de-deux-rafale-un-pilote-toujours-porte-disparu-.php)
ChristiaanJ
25th Sep 2009, 14:48
From the French article:
After a shock, one of the aircraft entered a spin, and the pilot ejected.
After his ejection, the pilot could see the other aircraft, which continued to fly. It disappeared from the radar a few minutes later."
Indeed, does not look good.
CJ
Body of Rafale Pilot Located (http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4304736&c=EUR&s=AIR)
Paris - The French Navy said Oct. 1 it has found the body of the Rafale pilot whose aircraft crashed into the sea a week ago after a suspected collision with a second Rafale.
"During the night of Wednesday Sept. 30, the body of Francois Dufflot, test pilot of the Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (DGA), was found on board his Rafale, 35 km east of Cap Béar," according to a joint statement from the French Navy, DGA and Ministry of Defense.
A robot submarine operated by the French Navy's unit for human diving and undersea intervention found the aircraft wreckage at a depth of 700 meters, Navy spokesman Capt. Hugues du Plessis d'Argentré told journalists. The pilot's body was in the cockpit.
The two aircraft were carrying mock-ups of armaments when they crashed into the sea, a DGA spokeswoman said. One Rafale carried mock-ups representing four of the GPS version of the AASM bomb, four Mica air-to-air missiles, two real external fuel pods and a canon without ammunition; the other Rafale carried mock-ups of six GBU 12 bombs, two Mica missiles, two real fuel pods and a canon without ammunition.
The second Rafale also crashed into the sea, but its pilot, Capt. Yann Beaufils, ejected and was picked up safely by helicopter.
The two Rafales were carrying heavy payloads as part of flying tests designed to calibrate the catapults on the carrier Charles de Gaulle, which is coming out of 18 months dry dock.
The French defense minister told his Brazilian counterpart, Nelson Jobin, in a Sept. 30 phone call that there was nothing to suggest the aircraft had caused the accident and that France would send information from the accident inquiry to Brazil.
Three separate inquiries - the Navy, the defense air accident board and a judicial investigation by the Genfarmerie Nationale - are being conducted into the accident, said Defense Ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire.
Cables will be used to bring up the wrecked plane in the next few weeks, weather permitting, with robots bringing up the smaller pieces.