An incident involving two jets belonging to the French Air Force’s aerobatic display team took place during training in Eastern France. Reports say three people ejected and are receiving medical care.
Video footage posted on X/Twitter shows two aircraft in the Patrouille de France formation colliding and breaking apart in flight near Saint-Dizier.
Deux avions de la patrouille de France se sont crashés non loin de Saint-Dizier. Les pilotes ont eu les temps de s’éjecter apparemment @afpfr #avion #crash #patrouilledefrance #saintdizier #villiersenlieu @AlertesInfos pic.twitter.com/yFgjhRip5M
— ludovic barbier (@ludovicbarbier5) March 25, 2025
France’s Armed Forces Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, confirmed via social media that the incident had taken place during display rehearsals and that emergency services had been mobilized.
A French Air & Space Force spokesperson source told France24 that two pilots and a passenger were able to eject and were found conscious. They are now receiving appropriate medical care. One of the aircraft collided with a silo at a nearby industrial facility causing a fire to break out. The second aircraft reportedly landed in a canal. No casualties on the ground have been reported.
Two Alpha Jets from the Patrouille de France collide during a training exercise in Saint-Dizier, Haute-Marne. The pilots managed to eject. A fire broke out in a local factory. pic.twitter.com/eoimm8d4fG pic.twitter.com/LLeWC8ZCKB
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) March 25, 2025
The incident took place near Air Base 113, which is 4 kilometers west of Saint-Dizier. It houses Dassault Rafale squadrons. Aircraft from this base were involved in the 2024 mid-air collision of two Rafales.
Patrouille de France is the French Air & Space Force’s primary display team, analogous to the Royal Air Force Red Arrows and the Italian Air Force Frecce Tricolori. The team traces its roots back to 1931, and has flown the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet trainer aircraft since 1981.
Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France fly over the Arc de Triomphe during Bastille Day celebrations in Paris. More photos of the day: https://t.co/J4fNz2zTj3 📷 Gonzalo Fuentes pic.twitter.com/iwuMaNP1rI
— Reuters Pictures (@reuterspictures) July 14, 2020
The team are world famous for their annual contribution to the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, where they perform a flypast creating the red, white, and blue of the French flag in the sky with smoke.
This is a developing story, we will update the article as more details emerge.
