A skydiving plane crashed in northeastern France on Sunday, killing all 11 people on board, according to authorities. The aircraft, carrying five parachuting instructors, five novice jumpers, and the pilot, crashed shortly after taking off from the Nancy-Essey airfield on the outskirts of Nancy.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez stated that some of the victims' families witnessed the aircraft fall, adding to the profound emotional impact and psychological trauma of the event. He declined to speculate on the cause of the crash but noted that the plane dropped from the sky suddenly. The aircraft came down approximately 300 meters (yards) from the runway.
Yves Séguy, prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle region, indicated that the plane experienced a malfunction and descended nearly vertically, narrowly avoiding populated areas. "Had it occurred just a few dozen meters away, the accident could have caused collateral casualties," Séguy said.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 showed the plane banked to the left after takeoff and crashed less than a minute later, in close proximity to houses. Police have cordoned off the wreckage. The aircraft has been identified as a single-engine Pilatus PC-6, typically used for transporting freight, passengers, and skydivers.
The parachutists were scheduled for tandem jumps, a type of skydiving where two people are attached together for the descent, according to Nancy Mayor Mathieu Klein. Emergency services were dispatched immediately and are providing psychological support to the relatives of the victims. The Paris prosecutor's office is leading the investigation into the crash.
A local resident described hearing a plane's engine stop, followed immediately by a loud bang. Upon reaching the crash site, the resident reported no signs of life, with some bodies found several meters from the aircraft.