France’s Air Force Team Pays Tribute to Armenian-French Officer Killed in Fighter Jet Crash

France’s elite aerobatic team, the Patrouille de France, has honored an officer of Armenian descent and his fellow airman who were killed in a military jet crash last month.

Colonel Antranig Sarkissian, 44, and Captain Quentin Klysz died on October 20 when their Mirage 2000D fighter jet crashed near Rogéville in northeastern France during a nighttime training mission.

On November 3, the Patrouille de France performed an aerial tribute in memory of the two officers. The formation was part of a military ceremony at Nancy-Ochey Air Base, where colleagues gathered to pay their respects.

Sarkissian was a veteran of the French Air and Space Force, with more than two decades of military experience. According to the French Ministry of Defense, he had logged 2,200 flight hours and flown 55 combat missions.

His military career took him to Afghanistan, Mali, Niger, Sudan and Chad. Since 2022, he had been stationed at Saint-Dizier, where he commanded the Suippes air-to-ground firing range.

Sarkissian served as a weapons systems officer aboard the Mirage 2000D, a two-seat combat aircraft used by the French military for ground attack missions. Klysz was a fighter pilot undergoing operational training at the time of the crash.

The two men were initially identified by the French military as Lieutenant Colonel Sarkissian and Lieutenant Klysz. Later military tributes referred to them as colonel and captain.

Their deaths were also commemorated in France’s National Assembly, where lawmakers observed a minute of silence on October 28.

French authorities have opened investigations into the crash. Its cause has not been publicly established.

The Patrouille de France, one of the country’s best-known military aviation teams, regularly represents France at national ceremonies and international air shows. Its tribute to Sarkissian and Klysz followed a longstanding aviation tradition of honoring service members who have died in the line of duty.