Two Rafale fighter jets have collided mid-air before crashing to the ground in northeastern France, civil and military authorities said.
A search for two crew is under way after two French Rafale jets collided mid-air in a rare incident involving the cutting-edge military aircraft.
One pilot ejected following the crash over northeastern France, but an instructor and a student pilot on the second jet are missing.
The two supersonic jets were from the Saint-Dizier air base, according to an air force spokesman in Paris.
"One of the pilots was found safe and sound," Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on social media.
"The search is still under way" after the crash, he added, thanking armed forces and police involved in the operation.
It is not immediately clear what caused the collision that authorities said occurred over Colombey-les-Belles, a town in northeastern France.
"The military authorities will report on the causes of the accident", said the local prefecture.
The Rafale "multi-role" fighter - used to hunt enemy planes, strike ground and sea targets, carry out reconnaissance and transport France's nuclear warheads - has become a bestseller for the French arms industry.
Accidents involving Rafale jets are rare.
"We heard a loud noise, around 12:30pm," said deputy mayor of Colombey-les-Belles Patrice Bonneaux.
It was not the usual sonic boom of a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier, he added.
"It was a strange noise, a percussive sound.
"I assumed that two planes had collided, but we didn't believe it," Mr Bonneaux said, adding that a road bordering a nearby forest had been cordoned off.
In December 2007, a Rafale jet crashed near Neuvic in southwestern France. Investigators concluded that the pilot had become disorientated in what is believed to have been the first crash of the aircraft.
In September 2009, two Rafale jets went down as they flew back to aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle off the coast of Perpignan after completing a test flight. One pilot died.
France has sold the Rafale to Egypt, India, Greece, Indonesia, Croatia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
Mr Lecornu said in January that France had ordered 42 new Rafale fighter jets, with the first to be delivered in 2027.
The French military has ordered more than 230 Rafales since the jet went into service.
French President Emmanuel Macron has urged defence manufacturers to boost production and innovation as Europe seeks to increase arms supplies to support Ukraine, which has been struggling to fight off Russia's invasion, now in its third year.
