Pilot disorientation likely cause of crash
SOURCE: Reuters
DATE: JAN 10, 2008
BY: Francois Murphy (reporting) + Timothy Heritage (editing)
Pilot disorientation likely cause of crash
PARIS - The crash of a French air force Rafale jet in central France last month was probably caused by the pilot becoming disorientated, Defence Minister Herve Morin said on Thursday.
The Dassault Aviation fighter jet crashed on Dec. 6 in the central department of Correze while on a training exercise. The pilot, who Morin said was very experienced and had returned from Afghanistan, was killed.
"It is not a human error. It is an inherent danger and risk for pilots. It is known as spacial disorientation, that is when you are flying at night and in the fog -- and the weather conditions were bad -- you no longer realise what position you are in," Morin told RTL radio.
"Everything seems to point to that," Morin said, referring to the initial findings of the French Accident Investigation Office. A judicial investigation is also underway.
Morin said the possibility of a technical failure or a blackout by the pilot had been ruled out.
The jet is France's most sophisticated fighter but Paris has not found a foreign buyer for it in eight years. Morin has blamed the machine's large price tag and high-tech equipment but said that had "nothing" to do with this crash.
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A site of Hommage for Captain Moiuser
One thing I remember from the old AD.mil.av forum, for you french speakers to digest, the hommage site to the Rafale pilot, Captain Moriuser. Rattler
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Well, that's what only a year of french will do for you. I should have known better anyways, as "rester" means more like "to not go out/ to stay in", right?Originally posted by Omar Alex SaffeLeave a comment:
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Sad news indeed. RIP
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Rest in peace isn't "restez en paix" in french but "Reposez en paix"Leave a comment:
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Bienvenue Au Club : First Crash ....
Crash d’un Rafale en Corrèze
Crash d’un Rafale en Corrèze
The dispatch from Aerospacemedia.com
Un avion de combat Rafale de la base aérienne de Saint-Dizier (Haute-Marne) s’est écrasé, jeudi 6 décembre, vers 18h20 sur la commune de Neuvic (Corrèze), lors d’une mission d’entraînement. La chute de l’appareil, dans une zone inhabitée, n’a fait aucune victime au sol. En revanche, le pilote, un aviateur confirmé, est décédé dans l'accident.
Alors que deux Rafale effectuaient une mission d’entraînement à environ 4 000 mètres d’altitude, entre Tulle et Clermont-Ferrand, l’un des appareils a disparu des écrans radars pour une raison indéterminée.
C’est le seul crash d’un Rafale depuis son entrée en service dans l’armée de l’air en juin 2006.
Translation
A Rafale combat aircraft based at Saint-Dizier crashed on Thrusday 06th December at about 6.20pm while conducting a practice mission. No victim on ground was reported after the fall of the aircraft upon an uninhabited area. However, the pilot, reported as an experienced airman, died in the crash. While two Rafales were conducting a practice mission between Tulle and Clermont Ferrand at an altitude of 12.000 ft (4.000 meters), one of the aircraft dissappeared from the radar screens.
It's the first crash since type service entry in the airforce in June 2006
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