Fatal Skydiving Plane Crash Near Nancy Kills 11, French Investigators Open Probe

A single-engine Pilatus PC-6 carrying 10 skydivers and a pilot crashed shortly after takeoff from Nancy-Essey Airport in northeastern France on Sunday, killing all 11 people aboard. French authorities identified the victims as five parachuting instructors, five novice tandem-jump participants, and the aircraft's pilot. The Meurthe-et-Moselle Prefecture activated its departmental operational command center in response.

Aircraft Malfunction and Impact

Prefect Yves Séguy told reporters the aircraft suffered a malfunction and descended nearly vertically before striking ground about 300 yards from the runway, close to residential homes. Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 showed the plane banked left shortly after takeoff and crashed in under a minute. Séguy noted the proximity to populated streets meant the outcome could have been significantly worse: had the aircraft come down just a few dozen meters in a different direction, civilian casualties on the ground were possible. A local resident interviewed by BFM-TV said he heard what sounded like the engine cutting out before a loud impact, and found no signs of life when he reached the scene.

Government Response and Victim Support

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot traveled together to the crash site, where they met with local officials and emergency responders. Nunez described the scene as emotionally difficult and praised the coordinated response from firefighters, police, gendarmerie, and civil security personnel. Authorities activated a medico-psychological emergency unit to support the families of victims and bystanders who witnessed the crash — among them, some relatives who had been waiting at the airport and saw the plane go down.

Investigation Under Way

The Paris prosecutor's office is directing the criminal inquiry, which has been assigned to the Air Transport Gendarmerie's investigative unit. France's Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses, the country's civil aviation accident investigation authority, has also opened a parallel technical investigation to establish the precise circumstances of the crash. Tabarot characterized the event as France's deadliest aviation accident connected to skydiving in approximately 30 years.

Context: A Second Deadly Skydiving Crash in Weeks

Sunday's disaster follows a separate fatal skydiving plane crash in the United States several weeks earlier, in which 12 people were killed roughly 65 miles outside Kansas City, Missouri. That aircraft also carried a pilot alongside skydivers, several of whom were inexperienced first-time participants preparing for tandem jumps — mirroring the profile of those aboard the French flight. In both incidents, family members present at the departure airport witnessed the crashes directly. Investigators in France have not drawn any connection between the two events, and the cause of the Nancy-Essey crash remains under active investigation.