A FRENCH Mirage collided

S

Snauman

Banned Member
Fighter jet, ultralight crash
From correspondents in Paris
August 23, 2004
A FRENCH air force fighter jet collided with an ultralight aircraft today, killing its two occupants, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The Mirage 200 N was on a training flight over central France near Clermont-Ferrand when it hit the ultralight - a small, low-flying recreational plane resembling a paraglider with a one-propellor motor attached - the statement said.

The smaller aircraft spiralled out of the sky and crashed into ground, killing the two people aboard.

The Mirage made an emergency landing at Clermont-Ferrand's airport. Its two pilots were unhurt.

A second Mirage which had been accompanying the first flew over the scene and alerted rescue officials before returning to its base in Istres, near Marseille

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10544355%5E1702,00.html
 
H

highsea

New Member
Bad news. I bet the guys in the ultralight never saw a thing. I have had a couple close calls in light singles, both times in the traffic pattern at an uncontrolled airport.

The report doesn't say what altitude it happened at, but it had to be pretty low to be in Ultralight territory. In the US we have MOA'a (Military Operation Areas) where GA aircraft sometimes have to share airspace with the military. It always puts you on edge.

The FAA always issues NOTAM's if the AF or ANG is going to be operating in a MOA that day, but many ultralight pilots don't bother to get them, because they are unlicensed pilots, and they're usually just knocking around the pea patch for the day. To make matters worse, most UL's don't have transponders, so the controllers don't even know they're out there.

-CM
 
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