2024-08-15 11:56:57
Captain Sebastien Mabire and Lieutenant Matisse Laurens were killed in a collision between two Rafale aircraft in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department on Wednesday. The first was an experienced pilot, the second was still in training.
The Air and Space Force (AAE) mourns the death of two of its pilots. In a press release issued on Thursday, August 15, Chief of Staff Stéphane Mille paid tribute to Captain Sébastien Mabire and Lieutenant Mathis Lawrence, who died this Wednesday in the collision of two Rafale aircraft.
The military press release states that the accident occurred “during a combat exercise” in the Meurthe-et-Moselle region. The two victims were aboard a two-seat Rafale fighter jet, which collided with another aircraft, and the pilot was able to eject. He returned to Earth unharmed, “with minor injuries.”
Experienced pilot
Captain Sébastien Mabire is an experienced fighter pilot, serving since 2013. “He began his combat career in the 2/30 ‘Normandie-Niemen’ fighter regiment, before becoming an instructor in the Rafale 3/4 ‘Aquitaine’ transformation squadron since August 2022”, said the Air Force.
“As a qualified patrol leader, he flew more than 2,000 flight hours and 47 combat missions as part of Operation Chamal against the Islamic State,” the release added.
Lieutenant Mathis Lawrence is still in training. He has been a fighter pilot since 2021 and “has been assigned to the Rafale fighters of the 2/30 ‘Normandy-Niemen’ fighter regiment since November 2023 and continues to train in the Rafale 3/4 ‘Aquitaine’ conversion squadron”. The soldier has more than 800 flight hours.
Air Force and Space Force Chief of Staff Gen. Stefan Miller extended his “sincerest condolences to the families and loved ones” of both men.
According to an Air Force press release, he will this Thursday, together with Army Minister Sébastien Le Cornu, “go to the 113th Air Force Base in Saint-Dizier (Haute-Marne) to show the solidarity of all arms AAE to the families and brothers of the missing pilot”.
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