M24 crash due to F-18 exhaust

According to the last issue of Air&Cosmos, the Rafale M24 that was lost on July 2 during a BFM exercise  would have been caught in the F-18 exhaust flux it was fighting with. The hot and turbulent air from the Hornet engines would have disturbed the pressure and temperature sensors of the Rafale leading to incoherent data transfert to the flight control system. Air&Cosmos put forward the hypothesis that the incoherent flight data could have triggered a flat spin forcing the pilot to eject at 3000 ft.

As a side note, the French Navy recently put into service a new underwater setup in order to train pilots to get out of their cockipt in case of a sea crash.