French Mirage Bomber Crashes
By PIERRE TRAN
Paris — A French air force Mirage 2000N nuclear bomber crashed into the sea Feb. 12 at about 10:40 p.m. while on a training flight, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The incident follows a fatal Dec. 6 crash of an air force Rafale, in which the pilot died.
The pilot and navigator flew the aircraft out to the Bay of Biscay off southwest France after detecting a technical problem and ejected once they were sure they were outside inhabited regions, the Feb. 13 statement said.
A maritime gendarmerie vessel picked up the pilot, and a fishing boat gathered up the navigator after the navy and air force launched a search-and-rescue operation. The crew was uninjured, and there was no third-party damage.
The defense air accident inquiry office will investigate the crash.
The Mirage 2000N was based at air base 116 at Luxeuil, where the French airborne nuclear strategic wing is quartered. The aircraft, built by Dassault Aviation, are armed with the ASMP nuclear tipped missile and crews are trained to fly low-level missions.
Luxeuil was the home of the La Fayette flight staffed by American volunteers in 1916, and whose insignia gave it the nickname of “Indian Head” squadron.
Link
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=3371569&C=europe
By PIERRE TRAN
Paris — A French air force Mirage 2000N nuclear bomber crashed into the sea Feb. 12 at about 10:40 p.m. while on a training flight, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The incident follows a fatal Dec. 6 crash of an air force Rafale, in which the pilot died.
The pilot and navigator flew the aircraft out to the Bay of Biscay off southwest France after detecting a technical problem and ejected once they were sure they were outside inhabited regions, the Feb. 13 statement said.
A maritime gendarmerie vessel picked up the pilot, and a fishing boat gathered up the navigator after the navy and air force launched a search-and-rescue operation. The crew was uninjured, and there was no third-party damage.
The defense air accident inquiry office will investigate the crash.
The Mirage 2000N was based at air base 116 at Luxeuil, where the French airborne nuclear strategic wing is quartered. The aircraft, built by Dassault Aviation, are armed with the ASMP nuclear tipped missile and crews are trained to fly low-level missions.
Luxeuil was the home of the La Fayette flight staffed by American volunteers in 1916, and whose insignia gave it the nickname of “Indian Head” squadron.
Link
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=3371569&C=europe
