| Fatal collision of the Team
Voltige Victor A tragic accident
occured on Monday, 10th of March, at the french Airforce base in Reims, Champagne. The two
Mirage aircraft (F1B and F1C)
of the display Team „Voltige Victor“ were flying in a close formation during a
routine training sortie as suddenly the lower airplane touched
the tail of the other plane. One plane crashed on the terrain of the airbase and the other
hit a nearby field. Due to the low altitude (~ 300m) during the manoeuvre the pilots
couldn`t succesfully use their ejector seats. The french President Jacques Chirac and
other high ranking military officials of the Armèe de`l Air (Airforce) expressed their
condolences to the families and relatives. The Team „Voltige Victor“, famous for
their extremely close formations, was always a very welcome guest at all the airshows in
Europe during the last years. The Team Leader Cne Stèphane Thomas and his Wingman Ltt
Guillaume Paul were very experienced pilots and had both amassed more than 1500
hours, most of them on the Mirage F1. |
