Paris residents alarmed by air force drill on 9/11 anniversary - BBC News
A fighter jet was escorting an Airbus A330 - with PM Jean Castex on board - at low altitude.
The Rafale fighter (right) and the Airbus were in fact involved in a refuelling exercise

When an Airbus A330 shadowed by a French fighter jet roared at low altitude across the skies near Paris on Saturday, eyewitnesses expressed alarm.

"It sounded like a blast - we didn't know whether it had crashed," a resident told BFMTV, noting that on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the US "of course we think about that!"

In fact, the Airbus was involved in a drill, with PM Jean Castex on board.

His office said the Rafale fighter jet had carried out a refuelling exercise.

Footage of the incident was posted online by residents, including this one who expressed concern about "this fighter-jet nonsense".

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Mr Castex's office said he was on the Airbus because of "his responsibilities in matters of national defence".

Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly was also on board.

The military plane had recently been used in the evacuation of civilians from Kabul airport in Afghanistan.

The two aircraft landed at Vélizy-Villacoublay air base, south-west of Paris, on Saturday afternoon - just as the 9/11 commemorations were being held across the Atlantic.

BFMTV commented: "In the end, it was just an exercise. People will take their own view about the timing."

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The sonic boom was heard all over Paris and surrounding areas (September 2020 report)