Skydiving Plane Crashes Near Nancy, Killing All 11 Aboard

A skydiving plane crashed near Nancy in northeastern France on Sunday, killing all 11 people aboard. The aircraft took off from the Nancy-Essey airfield at about 11 a.m. and suffered a malfunction soon afterward.

It banked left, fell almost vertically and struck the ground on the edge of a built-up area in Tomblaine less than a minute later. The victims included five parachuting instructors, five clients and the pilot, according to local reporting. The plane belonged to a skydiving club and was carrying passengers for a parachute jump.

Prefect Yves Séguy of Meurthe-et-Moselle said the aircraft had been identified as a single-engine Pilatus PC-6 registered in Germany. He noted that the crash site was close enough to houses that a slightly different impact point could have caused additional casualties.

Emergency services reached the scene immediately and began providing psychological support to relatives of the victims while collecting witness statements.

Police cordoned off the wreckage. A local resident, John Curaku, said he heard an engine stop followed by a bang while in his garden. He reached the site and saw no signs of life, with two bodies lying a few meters from the plane.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez was traveling to the scene. Authorities directed the public to avoid the area around the airfield.