His "Staffel", which had been flying a tight formation around him, peeled away to give him the necessary room to manoeuvre. Marseille rolled his aircraft onto its back, the standard procedure for bail out, but due to the smoke and slight disorientation, he failed to notice that the aircraft had entered a steep dive at an angle of 70–80 degrees and was now travelling at a considerably faster speed (about ). He worked his way out of the cockpit only to be carried backwards by the slipstream. The left side of his chest struck the vertical stabiliser of his fighter, which either killed him instantly or rendered him unconscious to the point that he could not deploy his parachute. He fell almost vertically, hitting the desert floor south of Sidi Abdel Rahman. As it transpired, a gaping 40 cm (16 in) hole had been made in his parachute and the canopy spilled out. After recovering the body, the parachute release handle was still on "safe," suggesting Marseille had not attempted to open it. Whilst the body was checked, a regimental doctor noted Marseille's wristwatch had stopped at exactly 11:42 am. The doctor had been the first to reach the crash site, having been stationed just to the rear of the forward mine defences. He had also witnessed Marseille's fatal fall. The autopsy report stated: