Skydiving Plane Crash Near Nancy, France Kills 11 in Deadliest Such Incident in Decades

Eleven people were killed Sunday morning when a skydiving aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff near Nancy-Essey airfield in Tomblaine, northeastern France. The victims included the pilot, five parachuting instructors and five novice skydivers taking part in an introductory jump experience. Officials described it as one of the deadliest private aviation accidents in French history.

Witnesses and flight tracking data indicate the aircraft — a Pilatus PC-6 — banked sharply left before descending almost vertically, striking the ground roughly 300 yards from the runway and narrowly missing a residential area and shopping center. Yves Séguy, prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle, said the aircraft's sudden descent appeared consistent with a malfunction. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez declined to speculate on the cause, though local officials noted that a regional heatwave may have been a contributing factor in aircraft performance.

The Paris prosecutor's office has opened a formal investigation, with France's Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA) leading the technical inquiry. The disaster follows a series of high-fatality skydiving accidents — including a similar crash in Missouri in June 2026 and a 2023 incident involving a Cessna 208 near Gap-Tallard, France — prompting investigators to examine maintenance records and operational procedures for systemic risks within high-cycle parachute operations.