- Eleven people were killed on Sunday when a plane crashed in the northeastern French town of Tomblaine, according to a regional official.
- The aircraft, which was carrying 11 people, crashed at 11 a.m. local time during a skydiving session, according to Yves Séguy, the prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle region.
- Five nursing students were among the casualties, along with five instructors and the pilot, according to local officials.
- The plane crashed almost vertically, right next to a housing development on the edge of the airfield, according to Séguy.
- A significant emergency response was mobilized, with police units and 50 firefighters deployed to the scene.
- French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot called the crash a terrible tragedy with a particularly high death toll.
- The students were a group of nurses who had decided to go on a first skydiving jump, according to a source close to the case.
- The aircraft, registered in Germany, crashed in a grassy area near the runway of the Nancy-Essey aerodrome.
- The cause of the incident was not immediately clear, and a technical investigation has been opened.
Eleven people were killed when a skydiving plane crashed in Tomblaine, France, on Sunday, including five nursing students and their instructors. The aircraft, which took off from Nancy-Essey airfield, went down shortly after 11 a.m. local time, narrowly missing nearby homes.13
According to Yves Séguy, the prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle region, the plane crashed almost vertically near a housing development. “It’s tragic, but it could have been even worse,” said Mathieu Klein, mayor of Nancy, noting the crash occurred just a few meters from homes.4
The victims included five instructors and five nursing students who were on their first skydiving jump, seeking to unwind during a heatwave, according to Thierry Pechey, president of the Meurthe-et-Moselle Council of Independent Nurses. “They were colleagues who had decided to go on a first skydiving jump,” he said.7
Emergency services, including 50 firefighters, were deployed to the scene, where many witnesses, including relatives of the victims, were present. Fortunately, no bystanders were injured, Séguy confirmed. The cause of the crash remains unclear, and a technical investigation has been launched, according to Amaury Lacote, deputy public prosecutor in Nancy.9
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot described the incident as a “terrible tragedy” with a “particularly high” death toll, marking one of the deadliest light aircraft accidents in France's history.6
“A tragic plane crash in Tomblaine, France, resulted in the deaths of all 11 individuals aboard, including five nursing students. Local authorities are investigating the cause of the incident, which occurred shortly after takeoff.”
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