TOMBLAINE: A skydiving plane crashed on Sunday in eastern France, killing all 11 people on board — among them a group of nurses — local authorities said, the country’s deadliest ever general aviation accident.

The crash in the town of Tomblaine killed five instructors, five students and the pilot, said Yves Seguy, the prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department.

The students were nurses, according to the head of Meurthe-et-Moselle’s nursing council, Thierry Pechey. “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,” he said.

There has not been such a serious accident in aeronautics concerning parachute jumping for about 30 years,” said Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot. Tabarot and Interior Minister Laurent Nunez both visited the site.

The aircraft, a Pilatus registered in Germany, crashed in a grassy area near the runway of the Nancy-Essey aerodrome, close to a residential area and two roads, a journalist reported. “It’s tragic, but it could have been even worse,” said Klein, noting the plane crashed “just a few metres from homes”.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2026