Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base ( or BA 709) is a base of the

French Air and Space Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the French Air F ...

(Armée de l'air et de l'espace) located in

Châteaubernard Châteaubernard () is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Charente department The following is a list of the 359 communes of the Charente department of France on 1 January 2 ...

, 2.8 kilometres south of

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cogn ...

. Both locations are ''

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' of the

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the r ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' in the

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

région France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collectivities, which have ...

'' of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. 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 The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Luftwaffe's operations included anti-submarine

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 ''Condor'', also known as ''Kurier'' (German for ''courier'') to the Allies, is an all-metal four-engined monoplane designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wulf. It was the first heavier-than-air craf ...

s as late as July 1944.

Units

* Escadron de Drones 1/33 Belfort with the

General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, one component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS)) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations, developed by General Atomi ...

* Escadron de Drones 2/33 Savoie with the

* Escadron de Transformation Opérationnelle Drones 3/33 Moselle *

École de Pilotage de l’Armée de l’Air 315 Général Jarry École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

with

Pilatus PC-21 The Pilatus PC-21 is a turboprop-powered advanced Trainer (aircraft), trainer with a stepped tandem cockpit. It is manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Development In November 1997 Pilatus flew a modified Pilatus PC-7, PC-7 Mk.II in ...

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 The Convair 990 Coronado is a retired American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body four-engined jet airliner produced between 1961 and 1963 by the Convair division of American company General Dynamics. It was a stretched version of its earlier Co ...

, flying from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

with 107 occupants onboard collided mid-air with

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

Flight 504, a

McDonnell Douglas DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell ...

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 Spantax S.A. was a Spanish leisure airline headquartered in Madrid that operated from 6 October 1959 to 29 March 1988. Spantax was one of the first Spanish airlines to operate tourist charter flights between European and North American cities and ...

CV-990 performed a successful emergency landing at Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base saving all 107 people onboard that aircraft.

References

External links

Official site

BA 709 Cognac
at French Air Force site
Airport Chart
at French Air Force site
''Aéroport de Cognac - Châteaubernard''
page at ''Union des Aéroports Français'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cognac - Chateaubernard Air Base French Air and Space Force bases Buildings and structures in Charente