Daily US Times: Two French military fighter jets that flew very close to the ground have struck electrical lines and cut the power supply to a village in the south of France.
It happened on Wednesday afternoon in the small village of Le Castellet, near Manosque.
Reports say the two Rafale fighter jets had taken off from a nearby air base on a low-altitude training flight.
An investigation has been opened into the “rare incident”.
The village’s mayor told local news outlet France Bleu (in French): “It went so low that it made a hell of a din, I then looked up and saw the second aircraft.”
Mayor Benoît Gouin, who was driving at the time, said: “It was so low that I said to myself: it went under the power lines.”
The fall of the cables caused a fire which was quickly brought under control, local newspaper reported.
The villagers remained without power for a few hours, while the access road to it was also barred for security reasons.
A French air force spokesperson told La Provence newspaper.: “There were no casualties. This in-flight incident forced the pilot of the aircraft to land safely at 14:11 [13:11 GMT]” at the Orange air base.
Authorities say the incident is extremely rare and they will know more into the investigation process. Rafale is one of Frace’s most advanced jets. The fighter jet has been used in combat over Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria.
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