Authorities say pilot and all 10 passengers – five students and five instructors – died in the accident in Tomblaine.
Published On 28 Jun 2026
Eleven people have died after a plane carrying people on a skydiving trip crashed in the town of Tomblaine, in northeastern France, local authorities say.
The aircraft went down at 11am local time on Sunday, Yves Seguy, the prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle region, told reporters near the scene of the crash.
The plane crashed in a grassy area near the runway at the Nancy-Essey aerodrome, AFP reported.
The pilot and all 10 passengers – five students and five instructors – died in the accident.
Seguy said emergency services responded immediately, adding that authorities were collecting statements from witnesses.
Hervé Féron, the mayor of Tomblaine, told French broadcaster BFMTV that no homes were hit.
“There was no collateral damage, but unfortunately all the people who were inside died,” he said, adding that the whole town was in mourning.
A local resident, John Curaka, who was in his garden with his son, told BFMTV he heard “a noise as if the engine stopped in mid-air”, followed by a loud bang.
Police urged people to “strictly avoid” the area around the airport in Tomblaine to allow emergency responders and law enforcement unrestricted access to the crash site.
A technical investigation has been opened, with the Nancy deputy public prosecutor, Amaury Lacôte, saying gendarmerie units specialising in air transport had begun examining the wreckage.
The Ministry of the Interior said Interior Minister Laurent Nunez was on his way to the scene.
Nunez was due to be joined by Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot, who in a post on X called the crash a “terrible tragedy” and described the death toll as “particularly heavy”.
