Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base
Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base is a base of the French Air and Space Force located in Châteaubernard, 2.8 kilometres south of Cognac. Both locations are communes of the Charente département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine région of France. The base is home to the Ecole de Pilotage de l'Armee de l'Air, the air force initial pilot training school.
It was used by the German Luftwaffe in World War II. The Luftwaffe's operations included anti-submarine Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors as late as July 1944.
Units
- Escadron de [Drones 1/33 Belfort] with the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper
- Escadron de Drones 2/33 Savoie with the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper
- Escadron de Transformation Opérationnelle Drones 3/33 Moselle
- École de Pilotage de l’Armée de l’Air 315 Général Jarry with Pilatus PC-21 and the Grob G 120
- Escadron D'Instruction en Vol 1/13 Artois
- Escadron D'Instruction en Vol 2/12 Picardie
Accident
- On 5 March 1973, Spantax Flight 400, a Convair 990 Coronado, flying from Spain to the United Kingdom with 107 occupants onboard collided mid-air with Iberia Flight 504, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 which was also flying from Spain to the United Kingdom with 68 occupants onboard. The Iberia DC-9 crashed killing all 68 people onboard that aircraft whereas the Spantax CV-990 performed a successful emergency landing at Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base saving all 107 people onboard that aircraft.