Two French Air Force jets crashed after colliding mid-air while rehearsing an aerobatic stunt.
The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon near Air Base 113 in Saint-Dizier, eastern France, during a training drill involving six Alpha Jets from the Patrouille de France.
Dramatic footage captures the moment the jets were executing a maneuver, leaving smoke trails, when two aircraft suddenly collided. Both planes then plummeted to the ground and were completely destroyed.
French Air and Space Force officials confirmed that both pilots and a passenger ejected in time and were found conscious.
According to Le Figaro, two of the individuals sustained moderate injuries and were transported to a local hospital, while the third, suffering from multiple injuries, is receiving treatment from the Army.
France’s Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, acknowledged the accident in a statement on X, assuring that emergency services were actively responding in coordination with the Ministries of the Interior and Armed Forces.
The collision, which occurred at approximately 3:35 p.m., caused one jet to crash into a silo at the Calin concrete company, igniting a fire. The second aircraft reportedly landed in a canal. Firefighters are working to extinguish the flames, while police and paramedics remain on the scene. No civilian casualties have been reported.
A witness from a nearby dealership described watching the aerobatic display for 15 minutes before hearing a “loud bang” and feeling the “compound vibrate.” He recounted seeing debris falling from the sky, adding that a pilot landed about 50 meters away and was quickly taken away on a stretcher by firefighters.
Authorities have activated the Sater Plan, a system used to coordinate searches for downed military or civilian aircraft. An Air Force helicopter has been deployed to scan the area for wreckage.
Saint-Dizier Mayor Quentin Brière, who visited the crash site, urged residents to “remain calm” and commended the pilots’ professionalism, crediting their actions for preventing harm to the local population.
