A small aerobatic plane crashed around 5pm into the sea as the pilot, a 65-year-old former fighter pilot and passionate aviation enthusiast Didier Berger, was performing an aerobatic display.
The Fouga CM170R Magister (F-AZPZ) aircraft belonging to an association and not the air force was performing at Le Lavandou just before a demonstration by the French air force’s elite acrobatic flying team, a French air force official said.
Footage shared on social media shows the harrowing moment the aircraft crashes at the event near Saint Tropez in southern France.
Built after World War II, the Fouga Magister was for many years used by the French army as a trainer jet and aerobatic plane. It has no ejection seat.
A rescue operation coordinated by the Mediterranean Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Centre (CROSS) found the body of the 65-year-old pilot a few hours later.
The show which had just commenced and was set to feature performances by renowned aerobatic teams such as the Patrouille de France, was immediately cancelled due to the “tragic circumstances”, officials said.
