PERPIGNAN-RIVESALTES, FRANCE – Alpha Jet #2 of French Air Force Aerobatics Team Patrouille de France, crashed this morning at Perpignan–Rivesaltes Airport (PGF) in the South of France, near the Spanish border. The pilot survived the crash, but was slightly injured.
The Alpha Jet of Patrouille de France exited the runway at the Perpignan-Rivesaltes Airport this morning, but the jet ended on a road which borders the runway of the airport.
According to a witness the accident caused a start of vegetation fire around the aircraft.
The pilot ejected and survived the crash with some injuries. He was taken care of by a rescue team at the airport, who responded immediately.
The Patrouille de France was scheduled to fly a demo in the afternoon at Fête Aérienne Internationale de Saint Quentin (Saint Quentin International Air Festival), an airshow in Saint-Cyprien, France.
Patrouille de France’s Alpha Jet
The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer. The Alpha Jet is co-manufactured by French Dassault Aviation and German Dornier Flugzeugwerke. It was developed to perform the trainer and light attack missions.
Photo: Tim Felce [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]
The Alpha jet was in service with the French and German Air Force as a trainer aircraft and as a light attack platform. As a result of military cutbacks after the Cold War ended in de early 90s, Germany retired its fleet of Alpha Jets in the 90s and has re-sold many of these aircraft to both military and civilian operators. The Alpha Jet has been adopted by a number of air forces across the world and has also seen active combat use by some of these air forces.
The Alpha Jet is still in service with the Patrouille the France, since the team introduced their new jet in 1981.
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(Image: from Antonin video)
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