The French army again mourns. A soldier was killed Wednesday and another injured during an exercise in south-western France, announced the Minister for the Armies Florence Parly, two weeks after an accident during a training flight which had already cost the lives of two soldiers near Pau. A source close to the file for his part mentioned "a problem of rope" and a "fall from very high" of the two men during the exercise, in the early afternoon.
"The two soldiers fell to the ground in circumstances that remain to be established," said Florence Parly in a statement. According to Colonel Cyrille Duvivier, the spokesman for the Air Force, the accident occurred about five kilometers southwest of the town of Biscarosse (Landes).
I learned with deep sadness of the death of Sergeant Pierre Pougin, during a helicopter rescue exercise. I address my support to his wounded brother in arms. Thousands of them watch over us silently and selflessly every day. Let’s never forget. pic.twitter.com/E28CpG4mOL
- Florence Parly (@florence_parly) April 29, 2020A squadron mobilized in Operation Barkhane
Sergeant Pierre Pougin, helicopter diver rescuer of the 1/67 "Pyrenees" helicopter squadron at air base 120 in Cazaux (Gironde) has died, according to the press release. A nurse from the military health service (SSA) was taken in charge by the emergency services and was in the evening in "serious condition".
Training for a Search and Rescue mission was carried out by a Caracal military transport helicopter from the Pyrenees squadron. This squadron has notably been engaged in recent years within the anti-jihadist operation Barkhane in the Sahel, with vocations of support to the forces, reconnaissance, search and rescue in combat.
His mission also earned him to stand out in civil rescues. As in February 2014, during the spectacular helicopter hoist rescue, in a swell of 6 to 8 meters, of 11 crew members of a Spanish cargo ship, stranded on a dike at Anglet (Pyrénées-Atlantiques).
"Thanks to constant training, demanding skills and their unfailing commitment, these soldiers help their fellow citizens and save lives from the sky, in metropolitan France and overseas," said Florence Parly in the communicated. "Soldier, sailor, aviator, there are thousands every day to watch over the French, with discretion and abnegation".
Second accident in 15 days
Already on April 15, two soldiers were killed and five injured in the accident during a training flight of an aircraft from the 5th Regiment of Combat Helicopters of Pau. The aircraft had crashed in an agricultural field, in the heart of a hilly and wooded area, before catching fire. Nothing from the investigation has since been released.
At the end of November, the Pau-Uzein military base and the 5th combat helicopter regiment had already been bereaved by the loss of seven of their own, died in a helicopter accident in Mali which had cost the lives of 13 French soldiers, the largest loss of the army in operation since 1983.
On Wednesday, the minister spoke of her “immense sadness”. She expressed "all her condolences to the families, relatives and brothers in arms" of the deceased soldier and addressed "her support in this ordeal to the injured medic".
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