A skydiving plane crashed almost vertically near Nancy in eastern France on Sunday, killing all 11 people on board – a tragedy witnessed by relatives who had come to watch the jump.
The pilot and ten passengers died when the aircraft, operated by a parachutist school, came down in the town of Tomblaine at about 11am, local authorities said. Among the victims were five students and five instructors, according to Yves Séguy, the prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle region.
“11 killed including five nurses when skydiving plane crashed near Nancy, France.”
Thierry Pechey, president of the regional branch of the Order of Independent Nurses, told BFMTV that half of the skydivers who died were nurses. “They were colleagues who had decided to go on a first skydiving jump, no doubt to unwind, as we’re going through a difficult time with the heatwave,” he said.
The plane had taken off from Nancy-Essey airfield when it suffered a malfunction and “fell suddenly” in a built-up area near a shopping centre, Séguy said. “Had it occurred just a few dozen metres away, the accident could have caused collateral casualties.”
A witness who declined to be named told Reuters he saw the plane veering to the right as he drove past. “Something was clearly wrong,” he said. He did not see the crash because of an embankment but heard the sound. When he reached the site he tried to help extinguish the wreckage, which had caught fire. “We saw right away that it was over, that they had all died instantly. There was no movement, and it was clear the impact had been too violent for there to be any survivors.”
Another resident, John Curaku, told BFM-TV he was in his garden when he heard what sounded like an engine stopping, followed by a bang. He went to the site and said “there were no signs of life”, with two bodies thrown a few metres from the plane.
The Nancy mayor, Mathieu Klein, told France Info that the parachutists were due to jump in tandems – instructor and first-time skydiver attached together. He said some of those taking part had families and friends who had come to watch and saw the plane fall from the sky.
Police urged the public to avoid the area around Rue Salvador Allende, warning of a risk of explosion. Yves Séguy said emergency services were providing psychological support to relatives and collecting witness statements. A team of specialists was on its way to investigate the cause, said Chaynesse Khirouni, president of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department.
French transport minister Philippe Tabarot said he and interior minister Laurent Nunez were travelling to the scene, calling it a “terrible tragedy”.