Skydiving Pilatus PC-6 crashes at Nancy-Essey on takeoff, killing all 11 aboard
France's deadliest skydiving air accident in three decades: the single-engine Porter banked left and fell 300 metres from the runway, killing the pilot, five parachuting instructors, and five trainee jumpers, a group of nurses on a day-trip from a Lorraine hospital
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Summary
A Pilatus PC-6/B2-H4 Turbo Porter (registration D-FIPS) crashed at France's Nancy-Essey aerodrome in Tomblaine, Meurthe-et-Moselle, on Sunday morning, killing all 11 people aboard. The plane banked hard left within seconds of takeoff and fell onto a cycle path in a residential area, roughly 300 metres from the runway. The pilot, five parachuting instructors, and five novice jumpers died. The trainees were a group of nurses from a Lorraine hospital; families on the ground watched the aircraft fall. Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot called it France's deadliest skydiving air accident in around 30 years. France's BEA (civil aviation accident investigation authority) opened an inquiry.
Why it matters
The accident highlights the risk profile of single-engine turboprop operators running tandem-jump operations for novice skydivers, where a failure immediately after takeoff leaves no recovery window. France grounds its skydiving season at three clubs pending the BEA review.