Article Posted on : - Mar 03, 2011

The Mirage fighter. A French MoD photo

PARIS (BNS): A Mirage 2000 fighter jet of the French Air Force that went missing while conducting low-level night flying in central France, could have crashed, the Defence Ministry said.

The aircraft, with two crew members on board, disappeared from the radar screens in the Aubusson region at 9.20 pm local time (2020 GMT) Tuesday.

The pilots were conducting a low-level night flying training mission when the incident happened.

A search and rescue team rushed to the site found on Wednesday a crater about 15 meters by 15 meters in which metallic debris were found, some twenty km east of Felletin.

The team also found human remains at the site and an analysis for identification was underway, the Ministry said.

The French Air Force has been using the Mirage 2000 multi-role fighters since the 1980s.