11 dead in France plane crash during skydiving trip

All 11 people aboard a skydiving plane died when the aircraft crashed in Tomblaine, near Nancy, at about 11 a.m. local time, local officials said. The dead included the pilot and 10 passengers, among them five students and five instructors from a parachutist school.

The aircraft had taken off from Nancy-Essey aerodrome before going down in Meurthe-et-Moselle, in northeastern France. Emergency services responded immediately, and authorities urged the public to avoid the area around the airport and crash site as police secured the scene.

Yves Séguy, the prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle, briefed reporters near the wreckage and said investigators were collecting witness statements. The French Ministry of the Interior said Interior Minister Laurent Nunez was on his way to the scene, underscoring the seriousness of a crash that killed every person on board.

The plane was being used by a skydiving school, placing the accident squarely in the risk-heavy world of parachuting flights, where aircraft repeatedly carry instructors, students and jumpers in tight operating cycles. Reports that the aircraft plunged vertically without any known cause remained unconfirmed as officials worked at the crash site.

Some French television coverage identified some of the victims as nurses taking part in a skydiving outing, and one nursing official described the trip as possibly a hazing ritual. That account has not been confirmed by investigators and should be treated cautiously until the identities and circumstances are formally established.

For aviation authorities, the crash raises immediate questions about how a civilian aircraft used for parachuting was being operated, what maintenance checks were completed before departure, and whether pilot training and flight procedures were adequate for a school flight carrying 10 passengers. Those answers are now likely to depend on the wreckage, the aircraft’s records and the witness accounts being gathered in Tomblaine.