Mid-Air Collision Involving Patrouille de France Jets During Training in Eastern France
A startling incident unfolded in Eastern France when two Alpha Jets from the celebrated Patrouille de France aerobatic team collided mid-air during a routine training flight near Air Base 113, just west of Saint-Dizier. The dramatic event forced three crew members—two pilots and a passenger—to eject from the aircraft. They were quickly located, conscious but injured, and are now under medical care for multiple traumas sustained during the ejection and subsequent landing. Saint-Dizier’s mayor, Quentin Brière, offered reassurance, stating that while the trio’s injuries were significant, they were not life-threatening, and all are expected to recover.
The collision sent the jets plummeting in separate directions, each meeting a fiery end. One aircraft crashed into a marshy, forested area. The second struck an industrial zone, slamming into part of a cement plant and igniting a small blaze. Fortunately, firefighters responded swiftly, extinguishing the fire before it could spread. Both planes were reduced to mangled heaps, described by officials as “completely destroyed.” Remarkably, no one on the ground was harmed, a fact Brière emphasized with relief, saying, “There are no casualties, neither civilian nor military, beyond those involved in the aircraft.”
Patrouille de France / Kaivari 2021
The mayor painted a vivid picture of the shock rippling through Saint-Dizier, a town deeply intertwined with Air Base 113, home to 2,200 soldiers and their families. “This is an extremely rare accident,” he said, his voice carrying the weight of a community shaken but united. “The base is us, and we are the base. When this happens, it’s a part of ourselves that is affected, a part of the residents. We stand in solidarity with them.” Operations to secure the crash sites are ongoing, with military teams combing through the debris as a formal investigation begins to determine what went wrong.
France’s Armed Forces Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, took to social media to confirm the incident, noting that it occurred during a rehearsal for one of the team’s signature displays. “Emergency services were mobilized immediately,” he wrote, underscoring the rapid response to the crisis. A French Air and Space Force spokesperson provided further details to France24, explaining that the ejected crew members were found alive and are receiving appropriate treatment. The spokesperson clarified that one jet had collided with a silo at the cement plant, sparking the brief fire, while the second reportedly came down near a canal—details that highlight the chaotic nature of the crash.
The Patrouille de France, formally known as the Patrouille acrobatique de France, is no stranger to the spotlight, but this time the attention is unwelcome. As the precision aerobatics demonstration unit of the French Air and Space Force, the team has dazzled audiences since its official commissioning in 1953. Stationed at Aerial Base 701 in Salon-de-Provence, it boasts a roster of nine elite pilots and 35 skilled mechanics who bring their Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets to life in breathtaking formations. Their mission extends beyond entertainment—they serve as ambassadors of French aeronautics, showcasing the nation’s prowess on the global stage.
The team’s roots stretch back to 1931, when instructors at the Piloting Perfection School staged the first aerial demonstration at Étampes-Mondésir Airport using Morane-Saulnier MS.230 aircraft. What began as a modest three-plane formation grew over the decades into a symbol of national pride. By 1952, Commandant Pierre Delachenal’s four-plane Republic F-84G display in Algeria earned the name “Patrouille de France” from an awestruck journalist, a title cemented by the French Air Force the following year. The team has since flown various aircraft, from the Fouga Magister to the Alpha Jet, which became their signature craft in 1981.
Their performances are a staple of French culture, most notably opening the Bastille Day military parade in Paris with a flourish of formation changes and crossovers, narrated live for captivated crowds. Internationally, they’ve left their mark too—flying over New York City in 1986 and, more recently, gracing the 2020 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Paris with a flyby past the Eiffel Tower, symbolizing the handover to France for the 2024 Games. In 2023, the team celebrated its 70th anniversary with a performance at Belgium’s Kleine Brogel base during the Air Force Days, reaffirming their status as one of the world’s premier aerobatic units.
Just months ago, in August 2024, two pilots from its Rafale transformation squadron, were killed when their planes collided over Lorraine’s wooded terrain. That incident cast a shadow over the base, and now this latest collision stirs fresh concerns about the inherent risks of such high-stakes flying. While the Patrouille de France has weathered challenges before—budget cuts in 1964 briefly grounded them, only for the team to rebound with renewed vigor—these recent events underscore the fine line between triumph and peril in military aviation.
As investigators sift through the wreckage and interview witnesses, questions linger about what caused the mid-air clash. Was it human error, a mechanical failure, or an unforeseen hazard in the skies over Eastern France? For now, answers remain elusive, but the military’s thorough inquiry will aim to prevent a repeat of this rare mishap. Meanwhile, the Patrouille de France, battered but unbroken, faces the task of regrouping. Their legacy, built on decades of skill and spectacle, ensures they’ll rise again to soar above the clouds, a testament to resilience as much as to aeronautical artistry. In Saint-Dizier, a town that lives and breathes alongside its air base, the hope is that this chapter becomes a footnote in a story of enduring pride.
