French Mirage 2000D fighter jet crashes near Nancy, pilot killed and navigator missing

A French Air Force Mirage 2000D fighter jet crashed during a training flight in northeastern France late on Tuesday, killing its pilot and leaving the navigator missing, the French Armed Forces Ministry said on Wednesday.

The aircraft, operating from Nancy-Ochey air base, crashed late on Tuesday in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department between the villages of Rogeville, Domevre-en-Haye and Tremblecourt, north of Nancy, French broadcaster BFMTV reported. The jet was returning from a night training mission when radio and radar contact with the control tower were lost on final approach.

Authorities confirmed the pilot’s death after the body was recovered near the wreckage, while search operations continued for the missing navigator — a weapons systems officer described by base commander Colonel Ludovic Humbert as a seasoned aviator teamed with a young pilot. Helicopters, drones, dozens of fire crews and police officers combed a wooded area overnight in adverse weather; debris was first located by a drone.

Henry Lemoine, mayor of nearby Pont-a-Mousson, said substantial police and firefighting resources had been deployed and a crisis coordination centre was established in Rogeville. A judicial investigation has been opened to determine the circumstances and cause of the crash, TRT World reported. Colonel Humbert said the unarmed aircraft, assigned to Fighter Squadron 2/3 Champagne, had been “recently renovated” and was “very modern”. The Mirage 2000D is a two-seat ground-attack variant designed for conventional air operations.