Plane crash in Missouri kills 11 skydivers and pilot
Authorities in France are investigating a deadly skydiving plane crash that killed 11 people shortly after takeoff on Sunday. The aircraft went down near Nancy-Essey Airport in northeastern France, with officials saying the plane appeared to suffer a malfunction before crashing close to a residential area.
The plane was carrying participants in a skydiving activity when it crashed, killing everyone on board, authorities said.
The Meurthe-et-Moselle Prefecture said in a post on X that the aircraft had departed from Nancy-Essey Airport before going down, prompting officials to activate the department’s operational command center.
According to The Associated Press, those killed included five parachuting instructors, five beginner jumpers who were preparing for tandem skydives, and the pilot.
A skydiver exits a single-engine aircraft during a jump in an undated file photo. Authorities said 11 people were killed after a skydiving plane crashed shortly after takeoff in northeastern France on Sunday. (iStock)
Prefect Yves Séguy told reporters the aircraft experienced a malfunction and “fell almost vertically,” coming down dangerously close to a populated area.
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“Had it occurred just a few dozen meters away, the accident could have caused collateral casualties,” Séguy said.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 indicated that the single-engine Pilatus PC-6 turned left soon after takeoff and crashed less than a minute later near residential homes, roughly 300 yards from the runway.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said he traveled to the crash site with Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot, where they met with local officials and emergency responders.
Nunez wrote on X that he felt “immense emotion” while meeting with local officials and praised the coordinated response of firefighters, emergency personnel, police, gendarmerie and civil security teams.
He said a medico-psychological emergency unit was activated shortly after the crash to support victims’ loved ones and those who witnessed the tragedy. Some family members waiting at the airport witnessed the crash, according to officials.
Nunez added that the investigation, directed by the Paris prosecutor’s office and assigned to the Air Transport Gendarmerie’s investigative unit, will determine the cause of the crash.
Tabarot described the incident as a “terrible tragedy” and extended his condolences to the victims’ families before traveling to the scene alongside Nunez.
In a later post on X, Tabarot said investigators from France’s Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses had visited the crash site and opened an investigation to determine the precise circumstances of the accident. He also described the crash as France’s deadliest aviation accident involving a skydiving flight in about 30 years.
The parachutists were preparing for tandem jumps, in which novice participants are harnessed to experienced instructors for the descent.
French broadcaster BFM-TV spoke with a local resident who said he heard what sounded like the aircraft’s engine stopping before a loud impact. When he reached the crash site, he said there were no signs of life.
Sunday’s tragedy came just weeks after another deadly skydiving plane crash in the U.S. that killed 12 people about 65 miles outside Kansas City, Missouri.
In that crash, the aircraft was carrying 11 skydivers and a pilot. Many of the passengers were preparing for tandem jumps and were inexperienced first-time skydivers, officials said. Some family members waiting at the airport also witnessed the crash.
