"The order, if ever we have to shoot down an aircraft, comes directly from the Prime Minister", explains Sergeant Pierrick, team leader and helicopter gunner. With just a few hours to go before the reopening of Notre-Dame, Villacoublay air base is organising patrol flights in Fennec helicopters to ensure safety in the skies over the capital. "From the moment an aircraft is classified as hostile, for us it's not a question of asking whether the population density on the ground is too high or not. It's that the threat requires us to shoot it down as quickly as possible. Otherwise, it puts the safety of the State and the French people at risk." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES