On June 9th 2004, 13h37, I safely landed on a sandy beach in the South of France after my single engine Mirage 2000N got on fire because it swallowed the refuelling probe during an air-to-air refuelling.

The aircraft crashed 4Nm at sea off shore of Gruissan.

Never during this short gliding descent from 23000 to 1200 feet I minded if both my WSO and my Martin-Baker Mk10 would work or not: for sure they will work !!!

The seat has to be the last working equipment in a fighter jet!

The same day I was back and having a drink healthy in my 2/4 Lafayette squadron.

4 days later I was strapped in again in another Mk10.

Thanks a lot to Martin-Baker for their constant dedication to this wonderful job!

Thanks to have saved my life and given me the opportunity to enjoy my kids, my wife, my aviation career and beautiful life for many more years!