Plane crash during skydiving in France kills 11

A skydiving aircraft crashed on Sunday in eastern France, killing all 11 occupants, including a group of nurses, according to local authorities. The incident is the deadliest general aviation accident in France.

Yves Seguy, the prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, said the Tomblaine crash claimed five instructors, five students and the pilot.

Thierry Pechey, head of the Meurthe-et-Moselle nursing council, confirmed that the students were nurses.

“They were colleagues who had decided to take a first skydiving jump, presumably to unwind amid the heatwave,” he said.

Mathieu Klein, mayor of nearby Nancy, said the victims “died in full view of their loved ones, who were preparing to film the tandem skydives”.

Medical and psychological support teams were attending to relatives of the victims who were present, as well as other witnesses, according to local authorities.

The BEA aviation safety agency said the incident is “the most serious general aviation accident in terms of loss of life”, excluding military and commercial aviation.

– Just missed home –

Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said there had been no such serious parachuting accident in aeronautics for about 30 years.

Tabarot and Interior Minister Laurent Nunez visited the site together.

The aircraft, a German‑registered Pilatus, crashed in a grassy area near the runway of the Nancy‑Essey aerodrome, close to a residential area and two roads, an AFP journalist reported.

“It’s tragic, but it could have been even worse,” Klein said, noting the plane crashed “just a few metres from homes”.

Tomblaine mayor Herve Feron said the plane fell “in a