The race for sensationalism and “scoops” often leads people to say foolish things, bordering on indecency, as happened after the air accident at Lavandou on August 16, on the occasion of a demonstration of the Patrouille de France. [PAF]To be given on the occasion of the eightieth anniversary of the landing in Provence.
Through social networks, a video showing a plane belonging to the PAF crashing into the sea has generated great excitement, especially after the death of Captain Sebastien Mabire and Lieutenant Mathis Laurens in a mid-air collision in the air commanded by the Rafale.
However, it very quickly became clear that the aircraft in question was not the Alphajet… but the Fouga Magister, described by a leading headline in the national press as a “small two-seater civilian aircraft from the 1950s”, while this very device has been used to train several generations of Air and Space Force fighter pilots [AAE] and the National Navy [avec la version « Zéphyr »],
In addition, the AAE reacted very quickly. “The community of pilots of the Air and Space Force is deeply saddened by this news, which does not relate to a Patrouille de France aircraft, but to an association called Fouga Magister,” they clarified. And it was later announced that the PAF’s demonstration off the coast of Lavandou had been canceled following this accident. “The pilots and the entire Air and Space Force community show their solidarity in this difficult time,” they assured.
Since the Fouga Magister did not have an ejection seat, the fate of its pilot could have caused the greatest concern. Unfortunately, no miracle happened.
Hello, @le_figaro. The Air and Space Force aviators’ community is deeply saddened by this news, which has nothing to do with Petrouille de France aircraft. @PAFofficielBut a Fouga Magistrate belonging to an association.
– Air and Space Force (@Armee_de_lair) August 16, 2024
“This Friday, August 16, 2024, around 5 p.m., as part of an air show off the coast of Lavandaou, as part of this event, a civilian aircraft of a special maritime security system crashed into the sea [DPSM] The Maritime Prefecture of the Mediterranean Sea was established under the authority of the . […] The pilot’s body was found. The public prosecutor of the Toulon judicial tribunal has opened an investigation to look into the causes of the accident,” the Var prefecture said.
On social networks [et même dans certains journaux]It was argued that the Fouga in question belonged to the Magister Trenchant patrol… or that it was a “Zéphyr” of the Zéphyr 28 association. Once again, it was moving very fast. According to information from Var Matin, the pilot in command was Didier Berger, a former Air Force veteran.
I have learned with deep sadness about the crash of the Fouga Magister off the coast of the Lavandou, with the loss of its pilot, Didier Berger.
As we remember the courage of the heroes of the Provence Landing, one man tragically lost his life while honoring their memory… pic.twitter.com/cqizGUBoHB
– Renaud Muselier (@RenaudMuselier) August 16, 2024
At 65, Didier “Helmut” Berger was a former Jaguar driver [7e escadre de chasse] and Mirage 2000N [escadron 3/4 Limousin].After leaving the Air Force, he acquired a Fouga Magister, which he presented at meetings for 25 years.
“Didier was a ‘mustache’ without a mustache. A man with heart. A pilot above all. A swallow of passion. For his Fouga parked on the Valence-Chabueil site. Painted in the colors of the Fouga Magister of the Air School, on which several generations of officer cadets passed their ‘PA19’: the last test before the first release on a jet aircraft. We will miss his smile and his passion. The silver lines of his Fouga Magister also in the sky of Provence, ”testified General Bruno Clermont, who served with him during his operational career.
And added: “You have now joined your father and your brother in the stars and all our missing comrades at the controls of their aircraft. Welcome to the Squadron Bar. »
Ironically, Didier Berger’s father was murdered under almost the same circumstances, at the controls of a Zephyr in Ajaccio on September 7, 2003.