UNITED KINGDOM. London: French military jets stuck electrical lines and accidentally cut off the power supply of Le Castellet, a village of under 4,000 residents in the south-east of France, on Wednesday afternoon
Reports say that two fighter jets, part of the 4th squadron of the Saint-Dizier-Robinson Air Base, where carrying out a low-flying exercise. One of them hit a power line by the village and cut it.
A fire was triggered by the fall of the electrical cables, but La Provence newspaper reported that the blaze was quickly contained.
“It made a hell of a din”
The mayor of the village, Benoît Gouin, said that the jet was flying so low that “it made a hell of a din”, the Daily Mail reports. “I then looked up and saw the second aircraft.”
An investigation has been opened; however, the French authorities described the incident as “rare”.
A French air force spokesperson told La Provance newspaper: “There were no causalities. This in-flight incident forced the pilot of the aircraft to land safely at 14:11.” The village remained without power for a few hours and no access to the road was allowed due to security reasons.
Previous accidents Saint-Dizier-Robinson Air Base
The Saint-Dizier air base was at the centre of another accident in April 2019, when a 64-year-old French man accidentally ejected himself from a Dassault Rafale B.
The man had been surprised by employees at his firm, who organised the flight as a treat.
However, the situation caused the man so much stress that, when the jet reached 2,500 feet above the ground, the 64-year-old panicked and reached for something to hold on to, the CNN reported.
Unfortunately, the man had grabbed the ejection seat button and he accidentally flew from the Rafale jet.
He parachuted to earth in a field near the German border and avoided serious injuries.
