Families looked on in shock Sunday as a skydiving aircraft went down in France just moments after leaving the ground, killing all 11 people on board, French authorities said.
The single-engine Pilatus PC-6 had departed from Nancy-Essey Airfield, near the city of Nancy in northeastern France, when it crashed shortly after takeoff. Officials said those killed were five skydiving instructors, five novice jumpers making their first jump, and the pilot.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said several relatives of the victims saw the plane plunge from the sky.
“Some of the victims’ families witnessed the aircraft falling with their own eyes,” Nuñez said. “So there is tremendous emotion and an even greater psychological trauma.”
A police officer stands near the scene of a skydiving plane crash in Tomblaine, northeastern France, where all 11 people aboard were killed Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)
Meurthe-et-Moselle Prefect Yves Séguy said the aircraft appeared to experience a malfunction and then “fell almost vertically,” coming down about 300 yards from the runway and narrowly avoiding a residential area.
Data from flight-tracking service Flightradar24 indicated the plane turned left after takeoff before vanishing from radar less than a minute into the flight.
France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety, known as the BEA, said on X that it had launched a safety investigation into the Pilatus PC-6 crash. The agency said four investigators, along with one first-response investigator, were sent to the site.
Forensic technicians examine a skydiving plane that crashed in Tomblaine northeastern France, killing all 11 people on board, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)
Authorities have not determined what caused the crash, and officials cautioned that it is too early to speculate while investigators examine the wreckage.
Nancy Mayor Mathieu Klein called the crash “an immense shock that has plunged the Greater Nancy area into mourning” in a Facebook post, offering condolences to the victims’ families and those who witnessed the tragedy.
Forensic technicians examine a skydiving plane that crashed in Tomblaine northeastern France, killing all 11 people on board, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)
Klein said he visited the crash site alongside regional officials and praised the “remarkable professionalism and commitment” of rescue, medical and security personnel. He also announced that Greater Nancy would open a gathering space at Marcel Picot Stadium where residents could pay their respects and show solidarity with the victims’ families.
The Meurthe-et-Moselle prefecture said it activated a public information center Sunday afternoon to assist victims’ families and said the hotline would reopen Monday morning as recovery efforts and the investigation continue.
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot described the crash as the country’s deadliest skydiving aviation accident in roughly three decades.
