At least 11 dead after plane carrying skydivers crashes in France

By PETER ALLEN and PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 12:52, 28 June 2026 | Updated: 12:58, 28 June 2026 At least eleven people died today after a plane carrying would-be skydivers hoping to take part in their first jump crashed in eastern France. The tragedy unfolded soon after 11am on Sunday when the German-registered Pilatus PC-6 got into difficulty. 'The single-engine plane was carrying around eleven people when it came down near Nancy,' said an investigating source. 'It had been hired by a company that organises introductory parachute jumps. 'Those onboard included a pilot, five instructors, and five others who were due to take part in tandem jumps for the first time.' There was no immediate indication as to the names or nationalities of those on board. But local media reported that five of the victims of the terrible crash were self-employed nurses from the local area who were going skydiving for the first time.  The plane came down on a road next to an Auchan supermarket in Tomblaine, a suburb of Nancy. It had taken off a few minutes before from the Nancy-Essey airfield, and began to fall out of the sky during takeoff. The plane had taken off a few minutes before from the Nancy-Essey airfield (Pictured) A spokesman for the Meurth-et-Moselle Prefecture said: 'The incident occurred in the municipality of Tomblaine involving a civil aircraft that took off from Nancy-Essey aerodrome.' The area around the crash site was immediately blocked off, as emergency services personnel searched for survivors. Amaury Lacote, a local prosecutor, announced that a formal investigation will be launched in conjunction with the air transport gendarmerie brigade of Nancy-Metz.  Following the crash, the area around Tomblaine suffered a power outage. It is not known if this is connected to the crash.  Interior Minister Laurent Nunez is expected to arrive on site this afternoon.   No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.