At least 11 dead after a light aircraft crashed in France
The passengers of the aircraft were heading to make a parachute jump on the outskirts of the city of Nancy
BarcelonaA small plane with more than a dozen people on board, who were heading to skydive, crashed this Sunday in the town of Tomblaine, on the outskirts of the city of Nancy, in eastern France. Local spokespersons have confirmed that the 11 passengers on board died in the accident and that the impact - in a fairly populated area - caused no collateral damage.
The prefect of the department, Yves Seguy, confirmed to the press that the eleven occupants [of the plane] died. In subsequent statements to the BFMTV channel, Seguy detailed that a mechanical failure in the aircraft could have been the cause, although experts are still evaluating the exact cause. The accident occurred very shortly after takeoff from Nancy-Essey aerodrome, and this led some relatives of the victims to see the plane "nosedive".
"The eleven occupants died," lamented the senior official, who assured that the accident could have been even worse, as it could have caused significant collateral damage. The small plane crashed in a highly urbanized area, just a few hundred meters from the aerodrome.
Both the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, and the Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, traveled to the scene of the accident, as Seguy reported. The Police have asked the public not to approach the accident area to allow emergency services clear access.
According to the local media L'Est Républicain, the deceased are five instructors, five students, and the pilot, information that the prefect declined to confirm. According to the same media outlet, the crashed aircraft is a Pilatus registered in Germany, commonly used for skydiving. It was a plane belonging to a skydiving club. The accident occurred on Salvador Allende avenue around 11 a.m., near a supermarket in Tomblaine, in an area adjacent to a commercial zone.