Two French Air Force Planes Collide During Rehearsal, Three Injured

Saint-Dizier, France, March 25, 2025 – Two Alpha jet planes from the Patrouille de France, the French Air and Space Force’s aerobatics team, collided mid-air during a rehearsal near an air base west of Saint-Dizier on Tuesday. The crash resulted in three people being found unconscious, officials confirmed.

According to the French Air and Space Force, one of the aircraft struck a silo, causing a fire. Emergency teams were quickly mobilized to contain the situation. The two pilots and a passenger ejected from the aircraft and were later found conscious, though one suffered multiple injuries. No civilian casualties were reported.

Videos of the incident showed six aircraft executing a maneuver involving a dive. While four planes continued their flight path, two on the left appeared to collide, sending them into a free-fall. Images captured from the ground depicted flames and smoke billowing from the impacted silo.

French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed the accident on social media platform X, stating that emergency services were responding.

The Alpha jet is widely used for training purposes, including by France to train Ukrainian pilots amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.

This incident follows a similar mid-air collision in August 2024, when two French Rafale fighter jets crashed in eastern France, resulting in the deaths of two pilots.

France has been a key supplier of military aircraft worldwide, selling Rafale jets to countries including India, Egypt, and Greece.

An investigation into the cause of the collision is underway.

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