Marine Rafales damaged at sea

[Tintin]

Two Marine Nationale Rafales were damaged at sea tonight around 18h, at 30km east of Perpignan.
One pilot has been rescued, searches still in progress to find the other pilot.

Let's hope...

[Arjan]

Since there are no two seaters and the pilots being rescued. Are they still being only damaged......or crashed?
Hope they both live to tell the tale.

Best regards,

ARjan

[Tintin]

One Sécurité Civile helicopter, one Dauphin from BAN Hyères, two Dauphins and one E-2C from the De Gaulle carrier, and one Atlantic 2 from BAN Nîmes-Garons are involved in the searches.

[Mark B.]

From Reuters:

PARIS (Reuters) - Two French Rafale fighter aicraft from the carrier Charles de Gaulle crashed in the Mediterranean on Thursday during a test flight, the military said.

One pilot has been rescued, another is still missing.

The Rafale, made by Dassault Aviation, is France's most advanced fighter. Brazil has been negotiating to buy the aircraft, which would be its first export order.

The accident took place about 30 km from the southwestern city of Perpignan. A spokesman for Dassault had no comment.

"It was a training mission, not an operational mission. The search is continuing for the second pilot," an armed forces spokeswoman said. A rescue vessel, a civilian helicopter and two military planes were taking part in the search.

[Tintin]

Probable cause of crash: mid-air collision

[Mark B.]

from flightglobal.com:

France has named the pilot still missing after a suspected mid-air collision between two navy Dassault Rafales over the Mediterranean Sea on 24 September as François Duflot. The first pieces of wreckage from the downed fighter have been recovered.

A test pilot from France's DGA procurement agency, Duflot went missing after his aircraft was involved in what defence minister Hervé Morin says is believed to have been a collision between the Rafales.

The single-seat fighters were among four Rafales assigned to the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and had been involved in flight-test activities before the mishap, which happened around 30km (16nm) east of Perpignan. The other pilot survived the accident, and was recovered by helicopter shortly after ejecting from his aircraft.

The French navy on 27 September confirmed that it had recovered several items from the missing Rafale, including a part of its wing that was picked up around 40km from where the first pilot was rescued.

With hopes of finding Duflot alive having faded over the weekend, the emphasis of the French navy's search efforts has now been shifted to finding the rest of the fighter.

[Wrecks]

The aircraft involved were Rafale M 22 and 25

[Tintin]

The second pilot, still missing till now, has been found in the cockpit of his aircraft last night by 700m depth. Due to very bad weather conditions from tomorrow, the body might only be recovered in 2 or 3 weeks... Condolences to his family

[Tintin]

The body of the second pilot has been recovered this afternoon.