Collision

[Farrell]

Just to let you know that reports are coming in here in Lyon about a collision between a Mirage 2000 and a ULM (microlight)

Will keep you posted.

Wayne

Here\'s the article in French, just off TF1. Don\'t have time to translate it as I\'m at work. Maybe someone else can do the honours.......Thanks

L\'accident est tout à fait exceptionnel. Survolant la région de Clermont-Ferrand en mission d\'entraînement, un Mirage 2000 N de la base aérienne 125 d\'Istres a percuté lundi matin un ULM à Aubusson d\'Auvergne. Le pilote de l\'ULM, âgé de 63 ans et originaire d\'Ambert, dans le Puy-de-Dôme, ainsi que son passager, âgé de 55 ans et originaire de la région parisienne, sont décédés dans l\'accident. Le pilote possédait une licence de vol. Parti d\'Ambert, l\'ULM s\'est écrasé en zone forestière, au lieu-dit "Tournebise", à une vingtaine de kilomètres au sud-est de Thiers.

Le Mirage accidenté s\'est posé sur l\'aéroport de Clermont-Ferrand, tandis que l\'autre Mirage s\'est posé à Istres après avoir survolé la zone de l\'accident de façon à alerter les secours. D\'importants moyens ont été aussitôt mobilisés : les gendarmes ont dépêché 24 militaires et 19 véhicules sous la direction du commandant de la compagnie de Thiers. De leur côté, les sapeurs-pompiers ont mobilisé 25 personnes et huit véhicules. Des débris de l\'ULM ont été rapidement retrouvés par des hélicoptères de la Sécurité civile et de la gendarmerie.

Une collision sans précédent en France

Selon la préfecture du Puy-de-Dôme, une commission d\'enquête civile et militaire est en cours de constitution pour établir les circonstances de l\'accident. Le parquet de Clermont-Ferrand a été saisi de l\'affaire et l\'enquête a été confiée à la Brigade de Gendarmerie des Transports Aériens de Clermont-Ferrand.

"De mémoire, c\'est la première fois qu\'on a un accident impliquant un petit aéronef civil. C\'est l\'enquête qui déterminera les circonstances de la collision. Quelles étaient les hauteurs des uns et des autres, pourquoi ils se sont touchés", a déclaré un officier du Sirpa-air (service d\'information de l\'armée de l\'air).

Dans un communiqué, Michèle Alliot-Marie a exprimé "sa profonde émotion à la suite de l\'accident aérien" et présenté "ses sincères condoléances aux familles" des deux occupants de l\'ULM. Par ailleurs, au-delà de l\'enquête technique, le ministre de la Défense a demandé "une enquête de commandement pour établir, dans les plus brefs délais, les circonstances de ce drame et les différentes responsabilités, afin d\'en tirer toutes les conséquences".

[Nickctaylor]

Here is the story off Reuters

A French Mirage fighter plane
collided in mid-air with a microlight aircraft during a training
flight on Monday in central France, killing the two people on
the microlight, the French army said.
The collision occurred at around 0730 GMT as two Mirage 2000
N planes from the Istres air base in southern France were
conducting a patrol at 500 feet over the Puy-de-Dome region, the
French army's public information service said in a statement.
"At that altitude, they use visual flight rules because the
radars are not able to detect an aircraft," it said.
The two-seater microlight aircraft, which left from Ambert
halfway between the cities of Clermont-Ferrand and
Saint-Etienne, crashed in sparsely populated terrain some 20 km
(12 miles) southeast of Thiers, killing both passengers.
The damaged Mirage landed safely at the airport in
Clermont-Ferrand.
Some 30 police officers were at the scene of the crash to
recover debris. Local police have opened a probe into the
incident.

[ramsrc]

Here's the translation of the original story. Took me a while as my French is more than a little rusty these days!

A totally exceptional accident. Flying over the region of Clermont-Ferrand on a training mission, a Mirage 2000N of the airbase 125 in Istres collided on Monday morning with a microlight at Aubusson d'Auvergne. The pilot of the microlight (aged 63 from Ambert in the Puy-de-Dome), and the passenger (aged 55 from the parisien region) died in the accident. The pilot posessed a flying license. Having left Ambert, the microlight crashed in the forest known locally as "Tournebise" around 20km south east of Thiers.

The Mirage envolved in the accident landed at the airport in Clermont-Ferrand, while the other Mirage landed in Istres having surveyed the scene of the accident and alerted the emergency services. These were mobilised at once; the Gendarmes dispatched 25 soldiers and 19 vehicles under the direction of the company commander in Thiers. The fire brigade dispatched 25 people and 8 vehicles. The wreckage of the microlight was rapidly located by the helicopters of the Securite Civile and the Gendarmerie.

A collision without presedence in France

Around the prefecture of Puy-de-Dome a commission d'enquete is being established to determine the cause of the accident. The brigadeer of the Air transport Gendarmerie of Clermont Ferrand is leading the enquiry
"From memory, this is the first time an accident has envolved a small civil aircraft. It is the enquiry that will determine the circumstances of the collision - who was at what height and why they collided with each other" said an officer of Sirpa-air (The information service of the air force)

In a communique, Michele Alliot-Marie expressed "a deep emotion following he air accident" and presented "his sincere condolencies to the families" of the two occupants of the microlight.

In addition to the technical enquiry, the minister of defense demanded an "investigation to establish as soon as possible the circumstances of the drama and the different responsibilities"

[gofer]

The same but in English in the OZ News (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10544355%255E1702,00.html)

Condolances to those left behind.... RIP