Military History | How To Make War | Wars Around the World Rules of Use How to Behave on an Internet Forum
Fighters, Bombers and Recon Discussion Board
Sign In   Return to Topic Page
Subject: Two Rafales crash
usajoe1    9/24/2009 4:52:45 PM
Reuters Thu Sep 24, 2009 2:45pm EDT PARIS, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Two French Rafale fighter aicraft from the carrier Charles de Gaulle crashed in the Mediterrenean on Thursday during a test flight, the military said. One pilot has been rescued, another is still missing. The Rafale, made by Dassault Aviation, is France's most advanced fighter. Brazil has been negotiating to buy the aircraft, which would be its first export order. The accident took place about 30 km from the southwestern city of Perpignan. A spokesman for Dassault had no comment. "It was a training mission, not an operational mission. The search is continuing for the second pilot," an armed forces spokeswoman said. A rescue vessel, a civilian helicopter and two military planes were taking part in the search. (Reporting by Marcel Michelson; editing by Andrew Dobbie)
 
Quote    Reply

Email Me When A New Comment Is Made
Show Only Poster Name and Title     Newest to Oldest
Pages: PREV  1 2 3 4 5   NEXT
SlowMan       9/25/2009 11:56:04 AM
@ Rufus

> That is what is going through your head?

Livelihood of many French workers depend on that deal.

@ ArtyEngineer

> WTF does losing two aircraft in what will likely turn out to be a mid air collison have to do with the sale to Brazil?

Would you feel comfortable selecting a fighter that just went down days before you are supposed to have signed the deal???

Now is the worst time for Rafale to crash, but perhaps fate doesn't want to see Rafale exported..
 
Quote    Reply

ArtyEngineer       9/25/2009 12:15:07 PM

After a night of research , the second pilot has not been found (I fear the worse) .

 

The DoD and MN are talking about a collision during a dogfight excercise .

 

Cheers .






As soon as I read that 2 birds down during a training flight I knew it could only be a Mid Air Collision, and as someone else commented those type of events are rarely survivable for all involved.
Regards
 
Arty
 
Quote    Reply

Rufus       9/25/2009 12:38:08 PM
"Would you feel comfortable selecting a fighter that just went down days before you are supposed to have signed the deal???

Now is the worst time for Rafale to crash, but perhaps fate doesn't want to see Rafale exported.."
 
All fighters crash you stupid kid. 
 
Not only that, but it is almost certain that the cause of this crash was a mid-air collision.   Collisions happen sometimes for a variety of reasons and it says nothing about the quality of the design or its prospects for export. 
 
 
Quote    Reply

ArtyEngineer       9/25/2009 12:39:05 PM

@ Rufus



> That is what is going through your head?



Livelihood of many French workers depend on that deal.



@ ArtyEngineer



> WTF does losing two aircraft in what will likely turn out to be a mid air collison have to do with the sale to Brazil?



Would you feel comfortable selecting a fighter that just went down days before you are supposed to have signed the deal???



Now is the worst time for Rafale to crash, but perhaps fate doesn't want to see Rafale exported..

Seriously dude, are you really this stupid?  How does an accident which as much as I hate to say this is more than liklely going to be determined as "Pilot error" have any bearing on the capabilities of the aircraft and as such have any bearing on a procurement decision?
 
Quote    Reply

Bluewings12       9/25/2009 3:05:43 PM
SlowMan , do you really think that it is the time and place ?
 
Cheers .
 
Quote    Reply

Bluewings12       9/25/2009 3:36:08 PM
Latest news (they don 't say much) :
 
After the mid-air collision , the pilot who ejected saw that the second Rafale was still flying and soon after it disappeared  from the CdG 's radars .
 
Cheers .
 
Quote    Reply

sentinel28a       9/25/2009 3:39:38 PM
If people didn't buy fighters because they crashed, there'd be nothing selling.  The F-105 had an abysmal safety record but turned out to be a fine fighter-bomber.  F-14As suffered from engine trouble for their entire service period; the F-111's first combat deployment was an utter disaster.  Hell, one of the F-22 prototypes crashed due to computer error.
 
This was pilot error, and it happens all the time, especially in combat training.  Unless it's somehow proven that the Rafales' onboard computers seized control from the pilots and committed robocide, it shouldn't affect sales at all.  Competitors to the Rafale could claim this as a problem with the aircraft, but it would be highly flimsy and would probably do more damage to the competitor than it would to Dassault.
 
It happens.  I hope the pilots are okay.
 
Quote    Reply

sentinel28a       9/25/2009 3:40:42 PM

Latest news (they don 't say much) :

 

After the mid-air collision , the pilot who ejected saw that the second Rafale was still flying and soon after it disappeared  from the CdG 's radars .


 

Cheers .




That's not good.  It suggests that the second Rafale pilot could've been killed in the collision, or knocked out, and the plane just went into the ocean. 
 
Quote    Reply

cwDeici       9/25/2009 4:09:21 PM
Hopefully this tragic accident will save the lives of other Brazilian and French pilots.
 
Quote    Reply

Bluewings12       9/25/2009 4:13:41 PM
""That's not good.  It suggests that the second Rafale pilot could've been killed in the collision, or knocked out, and the plane just went into the ocean. ""
 
Yes , this is what everybody 's here is thinking ...
 
Cheers .
 
Quote    Reply
PREV  1 2 3 4 5   NEXT



StrategyWorld.com© 1998 - 2012StrategyWorld.com. All rights Reserved. StrategyWorld.com, StrategyPage.com, FYEO, For Your Eyes Only and Al Nofi's CIC are all trademarks of StrategyWorld.com Privacy Policy