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News Desk
TOMBLAINE, France – A skydiving aircraft crashed in the town of Tomblaine in eastern France on Sunday, killing all 11 people on board in what authorities have described as the country's deadliest general aviation accident.
According to local authorities, the victims included the pilot, five skydiving instructors and five students. Officials later confirmed that the students were nurses who had planned to make their first tandem skydive.
Thierry Pechey, head of the Meurthe-et-Moselle Nursing Council, said the group had organised the jump as a way to relax during a period of extreme heat affecting the region.
"They were colleagues who had decided to go on a first skydiving jump, no doubt to unwind, as we're going through a difficult time with the heatwave," Pechey said.
Nancy Mayor Mathieu Klein said the victims died in front of family members and friends who had gathered
to watch and film the tandem jumps.
Emergency services, including medical and psychological support teams, were deployed to assist the relatives of the victims and other witnesses at the scene.
France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) described the crash as the country's deadliest general aviation accident in terms of fatalities, excluding military and commercial aviation incidents.
Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.
