The crew were on a routine low-altitude training flight when radar contact was lost on the morning of January 9, the French air force said in a statement. The jet, which belonged to the Nancy-Ochey Air Base, was flying over the mountainous region between the Doubs and Jura areas.
During a press conference, air force spokesman Colonel Cyrille Duvivier said the jet's wreckage had been found, as well as fabric that was likely to belong to a parachute.
"On this type of fighter jet you have two types of parachute, one for the crew in the ejector seat and the jet's parachute, which can be used to brake once it lands," Duvivier explained.
The air force did not detect a distress signal from the jet, he added; a signal is usually triggered when a pilot ejects.
Yann Burion, the commander of the air base, told French television station France 3 that the crew members were "experienced," but that further information could not be released out of concern for their families. "We hope to find them safe and sound as quickly as possible," he added.
The search for the missing crew members was restarted at 8 a.m. on Thursday, with 138 police officers involved in the operation, a spokesman for the national police said. Speaking to radio station France Bleu, a rescue worker said the site of the crash "wasn't an easy area to access."
The Metz public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the incident, a spokeswoman told CNN.
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Search continues for crew of crashed French fighter jet"
Post a Comment