Accidents
- On 6 December 2007, a French Air Force twin-seat Rafale crashed during a training flight. The pilot, who suffered black out, was killed in the accident.
- On 24 September 2009, after unarmed test flights, two French Navy Rafales returning to the Charles de Gaulle, collided in mid-air about 30 kilometers (19 mi) from the town of Perpignan in southwest France. One test pilot, identified as François Duflot, was killed in the accident, while the other was successfully rescued.
- On 28 November 2010, a Rafale from the carrier Charles de Gaulle crashed in the Arabian Sea. This aircraft was supporting Allied operations in Afghanistan. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered by a SAR helicopter from the carrier. Later reports said the engine stopped after being starved of fuel due to confusion by the pilot in switching fuel tanks.
- On 2 July 2012, during a joint exercise, a Rafale from the carrier Charles de Gaulle crashed in the Mediterranean Sea. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered by an American search and rescue helicopter from the carrier USS Eisenhower.
Read more about this topic: Dassault Rafale
Famous quotes containing the word accidents:
“Depression moods lead, almost invariably, to accidents. But, when they occur, our mood changes again, since the accident shows we can draw the world in our wake, and that we still retain some degree of power even when our spirits are low. A series of accidents creates a positively light-hearted state, out of consideration for this strange power.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“I can forgive even that wrong of wrongs,
Those undreamt accidents that have made me
Seeing that Fame has perished this long while,
Being but a part of ancient ceremony
Notorious, till all my priceless things
Are but a post the passing dogs defile.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)