Alpha Jet E2 / 118-BQ – crashed or WFU?

Hi All,

I’m trying to establish what happened to the second production Alpha Jet E (serial E2, coded 118-BQ), which belonged to the CEAM, French Air Force (Armee de l’Air) at Mont de Marsan.

I saw it when it appeared at Farnborough Air Show in the first week of September, 1978, and my Dad took a photo of it (which will soon be uploaded to Airliners.Net).

One source says that it was written-off in Egypt on 15 September 1978 after a double-engine failure, during an assessment flight with an Egyptian Air Force officer aboard. The French pilot and Egyptian officer both ejected and the aircraft was said to be destroyed.

However, the Scramble military serials database says that E2 was also registered F-ZWR? (don’t know last letter), and was noted inactive (ie Withdrawn from use) at Tours Air Base in 2000 and 2001.

Can anyone confirm which is correct? I believe the former is more likely, since there are no photos of Alpha Jet E2 on the internet (as far as I can tell).

Regards,
David Eyre