Commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

Caroline Aigle () (12 September 1974 – 21 August 2007) was a French

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

who achieved a historical first when at the age of 25, she became the first woman

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

in the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, 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 Fr ...

. Her promising military career was cut short by death from cancer seven years later. She was posthumously awarded the '' Médaille de l'Aéronautique'' (

Aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

Medal).

Background

Born in

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

, Aigle spent her early years in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, where her father served as a military physician. After reaching her fourteenth birthday, she matriculated at the Lycée militaire de Saint-Cyr ( Saint-Cyr Military High School), for the remaining three-year period from the second term until graduation. She subsequently proceeded to Prytanée Militaire, an advanced military high school and then to the military academy wing of the prestigious

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

, France's foremost school of engineering. During her first year (1994–1995), she fulfilled the requirements of her military duty while stationed with the 13th Battalion of the elite mountain infantry, The Chasseurs Alpins. She served her final year before graduation from the Polytechnique (1996–1997) in the

École de l'Air École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

, the

's officer candidate school.

Career

After graduating from the Polytechnique, Aigle chose to join the

. On 28 May 1999, she became the first woman to receive the Air Force's coveted

wings. She was assigned to the Mirage 2000-5 in the escadron 2/2 "

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or () is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.

" in 2000, and promoted to the rank of Commandant (roughly equivalent to

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

) in 2005. Among the top candidates, she was also on the verge of being selected as an astronaut for the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

. By the time of her sudden death three weeks before her 33rd birthday (the cancer, a

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

, had been diagnosed only a month earlier), she had accumulated a total of 1600 hours of flight time. Aigle was a keen athlete and represented the Air Force in inter-service sports competitions. She was the 1997 French military champion in

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

, followed by the 1997 triathlon world championship in military team competition. Still competing in 1999, she and her team won the triathlon world military vice-championship. She was also a

skydiver Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

and

free-fall In classical mechanics, free fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. A freely falling object may not necessarily be falling down in the vertical direction. If the common definition of the word "fall" is used, ...

parachutist.

Death

Aigle was pregnant when she was first diagnosed with rapidly progressing

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and refused to undergo an abortion despite the increased difficulty in cancer treatment options. Her son Gabriel was delivered by

caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

, five-and-a half months into term, fifteen days before her death on 21 August 2007. She and her husband already had one other child. On 2 October 2007, President Sarkozy posthumously awarded her the Médaille de l'Aéronautique (

Medal).

Personal life

Aigle was married to Christophe "Douky" Deketelaere (born 27 September 1964), a former Air Force fighter pilot and deputy leader of the Breitling Jet Team. They had two sons, Marc and Gabriel.

References

A brief magazine interview with Caroline AigleCaroline Aigle biographical details
12 July 2005 * ttp://armee-de-lair.over-blog.fr/article-12050114.html Text of the eulogy delivered at Caroline Aigle's funeral mass (in French)

External links

Biographical sketch of Caroline Aigle with two photographs
25 August 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Aigle, Caroline École Polytechnique alumni French aerospace engineers French Air and Space Force personnel People from Montauban Deaths from skin cancer 1974 births 2007 deaths Harmon Trophy winners French women aviators Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal Deaths from cancer in France French female military personnel École de l'air alumni Space program of France 20th-century French women