2 French fighter pilots die after colliding with another warplane during training

The Dassault Rafale jet performs a demonstration flight during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, Monday, June 19, 2023. Two fighter jet pilots were killed Wednesday Aug.14, 2024 after their Rafale warplane collided with another and crashed in northeastern France, according to the French military. The pilot of the other jet ejected and suffered minor injuries. Credit: AP/Lewis Joly
PARIS — Two fighter jet pilots were killed after their Rafale warplane collided with another and crashed in northeastern France, according to the French military. The pilot of the other jet ejected and suffered minor injuries.
The two aircraft collided Wednesday during a combat maneuver in the Vosges region near the town of Colombey-les-Belles, the Defense Ministry said in a statement late in the day. The pilots who were killed were an instructor and a trainee on a training mission, it said.
Military and judicial investigations are underway into the causes of the accident.
The pilot of one Rafale was found alive soon after the crash, but it took several hours of searching by gendarmes in the wooded region to find the two pilots of the other jet.
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