In memoriam, Capitaine de Fregate François Duflot

Thursday, September, 24th, 2009, 6:00pm, the Rafale of Capitaine de fregate François Duflot collided with his wingman's  plane piloted by Capitaine de corvette Yann Beautfils.
Both pilots were conducting a test mission with heavy loads for the Rafale F3 trials and were returning to the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier when the collision happened.

Yann Beaufils managed to eject and was recovered rapidly by the Alouette III of the CdG. Unfortunately, François did not eject and was discovered 6 days later in the cockpit of his plane. the wreckage was laying at a depth of 700m, 35 km off the Bear Cap near perpignan.
François Duflot was a very experienced navy pilot with almost 5000 fligt hours. He graduated from the EPNER test pilot school in 2002 and was working as a Rafale test pilot for the DGA.

Today, our thoughts go to his wife and childrens.