France probes rare Rafale fighter jet crash that killed two pilots

French military authorities are investigating the cause behind a mid-air collision of two Rafale fighter jets that killed two pilots on Wednesday. The jets are a flagship of France’s military exports.

Two Rafale fighter jets returning to a military base after a supply mission to Germany crashed into each other around noon, according to the French Air and Space Force.

Two pilots in one of the aircraft were killed. They were identified as Captain Sebastien Mabire, a flight instructor, and Lieutenant Matthis Laurens, who was being trained.

The pilot of the other plane was able to eject and was found near the plane's wreckage in Colombey-les-Belles, in north-eastern France.

French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu is expected to travel Thursday to the Saint-Dizier Air Force base, where all the pilots were based.

Accidents involving Rafale fighter jets, which France sells to militaries around the world, are rare.

In December 2007, a Rafale crashed near Neuvic in southwestern France after the pilot became disorientated, according to investigators.

Another pilot died in September 2009 when two Rafale jets went down as they were returning to the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier off Perpignan after a test flight.

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