The president of the French Parachuting Federation, Yves-Marie Guillaud, reacted strongly on Franceinfo following the plane crash that occurred on Sunday, June 28, in Tomblaine, near Nancy. According to him, the aircraft took off at “worst moment”The crash occurred during a period of intense heat. The tragedy claimed eleven lives. The victims included five skydiving instructors, five students, and the pilot. Everyone on board the aircraft perished.
“That was the worst moment” to make the device take off
Interviewed by Franceinfo, Yves-Marie Guillaud stated that the flight had been organized under particularly unfavorable timing conditions. According to him, tandem jumps should not be carried out in the late morning or early afternoon when it is very hot. He explained that clubs normally favor flights early in the morning, when the air is still cool, and then in the evening, after the temperature has dropped. The federation president summarized his position: “During the day, nothing at all.”
A note asked people to limit their activities during the heatwave.
The French Parachuting Federation had received a memo from the Ministry of Sports a few days before the accident, requesting that activities, including skydiving, be limited during the heatwave. Yves-Marie Guillaud, however, regrets that private civil aviation aircraft have their own regulations, even when used for sporting activities. For him, this situation raises a direct question about the oversight of skydiving flights during periods of extreme heat.
The plane crashed shortly after takeoff.
The aircraft, a Pilatus registered in Germany according to France Info, had just taken off from Nancy-Essey airfield. It crashed around 11:00 AM, approximately 300 meters from the runway, in a grassy area near a residential neighborhood and several roads. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated at the scene that the plane had begun to take off before suddenly plummeting.
No casualties on the ground
All eleven people on board died in the crash. Authorities confirmed there were no other casualties. The tragedy occurred in front of relatives and witnesses present at the airfield. A medical and psychological emergency support unit has been established to assist the victims' families and those who witnessed the accident.
The pilot's profile is under scrutiny in the investigation.
Yves-Marie Guillaud also believes the investigation will need to answer several questions about the pilot: how long he had been flying, how many flights he had completed, had he eaten, drunk, or respected his rest periods? These elements will need to be verified by investigators, along with the condition of the aircraft, the takeoff conditions, the weather, the flight plan, and the rules in place at the time of the incident.
An investigation has been entrusted to the air transport police.
The Paris prosecutor's office's unit specializing in mass casualty incidents has taken over the judicial investigation. The investigation has been entrusted to the air transport gendarmerie. The aircraft was not necessarily equipped with a black box. Investigators may therefore rely on other evidence, including witness statements, technical findings on the wreckage, and any videos filmed on board or on the ground.
A tragedy for light aviation
With 11 fatalities, this crash is one of the deadliest accidents involving light aviation in France. Beyond the human toll, the reaction of the president of the French Parachuting Federation has brought to the forefront the issue of flights organized during periods of extreme heat, takeoff times, and the regulations applicable to private aircraft used for sporting activities.
