On November 8, a Tigre UHT combat helicopter cut a high voltage line in Vaucluse. The crew was able to escape the crash unscathed and no fire appears to have been started. Emergency services were deployed in large numbers and the Air Force opened an investigation to explain the incident.
A UHT Tiger on the mat
On November 8 around 5 p.m., a Tiger combat helicopter collided with a high voltage line in the town of Viens (Vaucluse, approximate location of the aircraft: 43°52’32.67″N 5°34’51.04E) The crew members are unhurt but the images show that the helicopter is damaged: only two of the four blades of the main rotor are visible. The helicopter did not belong to the Army Light Aviation (ALAT ) but indeed to the Heeresfliegertruppe, German equivalent of the French ALAT. Moreover, the presence of the Osiris sensor, placed on a mast above the main rotor, confirms the nationality of the helicopter, this specification being only present on the German Tiger UHT. The incident happened while the machine was carrying out an exercise with EALAT, the Army Light Aviation School. This school, based on the military part of the The Luc – Le Cannet aerodrome (Var, France) includes various training centers, such as the Joint Training Center on NH-90 (CFIA NH90) or the Specialty Aerocombat Training Center (CFSA). However, the Tiger UHT was probably in training as part of the EFA, the Franco-German Tiger School.
