A small plane carrying skydivers crashed into a street in the eastern French town of Tomblain, Meurthe-et-Moselle department. All 11 people on board were killed in the serious incident, local authorities said.
The tragedy occurred at around 11:00 local time, immediately after takeoff from the regional airport “Nancy-Essay“. The pilot, five experienced instructors and five students were on board. According to information from the French media, quoted by world agencies, the five trainees were self-employed nurses, to whom the jump was given as a gift as an experience. For most of them, it was supposed to be their first tandem jump.
Witnesses say that the sound of the plane's engine suddenly disappeared as it was gaining altitude. According to data from the flight tracking platform Flightradar24, the plane began to lose altitude sharply before falling into the urban area. Relatives and friends of the students were at the airport to watch the flight and witnessed the crash firsthand.
Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the exact causes of the technical malfunction or pilot error that led to the incident.