Bernard Chabbert a French journalist, author and airshow commentator passed away aged 78.

Bernard Chabbert has been the commentator at many French Airshows each year, including the Le Temps des Hélices at the La Ferté-Alais, Paris Air Legends at Melun-Villaroche and the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport just to name a few. Besides being the commentator at the French Airshows he has also narrated the airshows in Payerne and Bex in Switzerland and the iconic Flying Legends in Duxford in the UK.

In the early 1970s, Bernard Chabbert became a reporter for Europe 1 and began covering the Apollo program in Houston. At the same time, he became editor of the aeronautical journal Aviasport. In 1991, on France 3 he launched the program Pégase, the aeronautical counterpart of Thalassa. An indisputable audience success with nearly 800,000 viewers per show. Bernard was the essential reference for aviation journalism in France, his success also extended to England and the United States. He was a pilot and has logged more than 1,600 flight hours on more than 250 different types of aircraft. His father was himself an Aéropostale pilot from 1929 and a friend of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, sharing with him responsibilities as stopover manager in Africa.

Bernard Chabbert's love of the sky is partly explained by his childhood: his father was a pilot at Aéropostale and was a friend of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was therefore born out of a passion for aviation and great aviators. He began to practice piloting at the age of 15, at the Aero Club Air France in Madagascar. At that time his dream was to become an airline pilot, unfortunately, his visual acuity did not allow him to. He, therefore, falls back on specialized journalism and still continues to fly (on more than 250 types of aircraft) whether for pleasure or for professional needs such as writing articles. This love for the sky led him to produce, with the cartoonist Romain Hugaut, a comic strip on the extraordinary life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Statement from the Flying Legends

“Today we learn of the tragic passing of our dear friend Bernard Chabbert. The world of aviation has lost a fanatic and a poet. His knowledge, experience and style were truly unique facets of this deep and kind man. A friend since the early ‘80s, he was faithful to TFC and to our family and we extend our sincerest condolences to his wife Eve, his son Antoine and all the family Chabbert. Bernard will be the missing man for years to come.

May he rest in peace.

Nick, Stephen and all the Greys”