Eleven people were killed after a civilian aircraft carrying skydivers crashed near the town of Tomblaine in eastern France on Sunday, local authorities confirmed.
The victims included the pilot and all 10 passengers—five skydiving instructors and five first-time participants preparing for tandem jumps. The aircraft, operated by a parachuting school, had taken off from Nancy-Essey Airfield before crashing shortly after around 11:00 a.m. local time.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation to determine the cause of the crash. He added that several relatives of the victims witnessed the tragedy after gathering at the airfield to watch the first-time jumps.
Nancy Mayor Mathieu Klein described the incident as especially heartbreaking, saying some victims died “in full view of their loved ones.” Meurthe-et-Moselle department president Chaynesse Khirouni said the families had suffered severe psychological trauma.
Emergency medical and psychological support teams were deployed to assist relatives and witnesses. Nuñez, who visited the crash site, spoke of the deep emotion surrounding the tragedy and praised the solidarity shown to the victims’ families.
The aircraft crashed near the edge of the airfield, close to a residential neighborhood and a shopping center. Officials said it narrowly avoided nearby homes.
“Just a few metres in another direction could have resulted in additional casualties,” said Meurthe-et-Moselle prefect Yves Seguy, noting that the plane plunged almost vertically near a housing estate.
According to Thierry Pechey, head of a local nursing organization, five of the victims were nurses who had chosen to experience their first skydive together, likely as a way to relax during the ongoing heatwave.
French news agency AFP, citing the country’s aviation safety agency (BEA), reported that this is the deadliest private plane crash in French history, excluding military and commercial aviation accidents.
A witness told Reuters he noticed the aircraft suddenly veer to the right while driving nearby, realizing something was wrong. Although he did not see the impact, he heard the crash and rushed to the scene, where the wreckage had caught fire.
“We knew immediately there were no survivors,” the witness said. “The impact was far too severe.”
Tomblaine Mayor Hervé Feron said the aircraft fell from the sky “for reasons that remain completely unexplained,” stressing that it was too early to speculate on the cause. While weather conditions have not been ruled out, authorities say no conclusions will be drawn until the official investigation is completed.
The crash occurred as France continues to endure an intense heatwave. An amber weather alert for high temperatures was in effect across the Meurthe-et-Moselle region on the day of the accident.