French pilot killed, another missing in fighter jet crash

PARIS, Oct. 21 (YPA) – One crew member of a French fighter jet was killed and another was missing after it crashed on Tuesday night during a training flight in northeast France.

The Air Force said the plane went down in a wilderness area between the towns of Rougeville and Doumère, northwest of Nancy in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, at around 11:35 p.m. The body of the pilot was recovered, while the search for the missing navigator continues with the participation of the gendarmerie and drones.

AFP confirmed that the crashed aircraft was a two- and three-seat “Champagne” jet belonging to the fighter squadron based at Air Base 133 Nancy-Ochey.

Franceinfo and BFMTV reported that radar contact was lost with the fighter around 10:30 p.m. amid reports of an explosion and a large fireball, while Libération indicated that hundreds of firefighters and gendarmes had cordoned off the forests of the region, with heavy aerial activity, pending an official press conference in Nancy.