French army Gazelle helicopter crashed near Modeste in Abidjan

French military SA342M Gazelle helicopter belonging to the 3rd Combat Helicopter Regiment crashed on 10 July 2018 in the Ivory Coast (Republic of Côte d’Ivoire) while engaged in a reconnaissance flight.

“The cause of the accident is still to be determined,” the French army said in a statement.

According to the aviafora.com, on 10th July 2018 near Abidjan in the Ivory Coast after hitting a power line crashed SA342M Gazelle helicopter.

- ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW -

Both crew members suffered serious injuries and were taken to the medical center at the French military base at Port Bouet. Some hours after being taken to this facility the pilot, Lieutenant Alexandre Arnaud, died from his injuries while the remaining crew member was flown to France for further treatment.

The SA342M is a light attack variant of the French multi-purpose, lightweight utility helicopter manufactured by Aerospatiale Helicopter Corporation.

The helicopter is used in approximately 23 countries, primarily for surveillance and reconnaissance. It is also used for military applications such as attack, anti-tank, anti-helicopter, transport and training. It can accommodate one pilot and four passengers.

Readers who wish to follow our weekly coverage can subscribe to the Weekly Defense Roundup.

If you wish to report a grammatical or factual error in this article, please let us know by using the online form.

Executive Editor

Support The Defence Blog

Independent reporting takes resources. Join us on Patreon.

Become a patron

More Like This

South Korea and France join forces on long-range missiles

Hanwha Aerospace, the South Korean defense giant behind one of the most combat-credible rocket artillery systems currently in service, signed a Memorandum of Understanding...

Top European missile maker to help build Ukraine’s next strike weapon

Europe's biggest missile maker has agreed to help Ukraine build a successor to the weapon that sank Russia's cruiser Moskva, the flagship of its...

French engineers turned Cold War tank into robot fighter

A tank that first rolled off a French production line in the 1960s just showed up at Eurosatory with no crew inside it and...

France places massive order for FN Herstal’s ultralight machine gun

The French Army has placed an order for several thousand FN Evolys machine guns from Belgian manufacturer FN Herstal, marking a major production order...

Renault will help build France’s new kamikaze drone

Thales and Renault Group are joining forces to mass-produce a French kamikaze drone, betting that the country's largest carmaker can do for loitering munitions...