CNews journalist Gérard Leclerc, who died last August in the tragic accident of the small tourist plane he was piloting with two passengers on board, would most likely have been the victim of “spatial disorientation” linked to cloud cover, according to the BEA investigation report.
The aircraft, a Robin DR400, crashed on August 15, 2023 in Lavau-sur-Loire, in a marsh area bordered by high reeds in the Loire estuary. The 71-year-old journalist and his two passengers lost their lives in this accident. The report from the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) for civil aviation safety concluded that “the plane very probably entered the cloud layer and the pilot lost external visual references, leading him very probably due to spatial disorientation. »
It seems that Gérard Leclerc did not realize that he was entering a right turn, during which he lost control. When the plane emerged from the cloud layer, with significant speed and in descent, the pilot probably would not have had time to react before the plane collided with the surface of the water, summarizes the BEA. In addition to Gérard Leclerc, Michèle Monory, daughter of the former minister and president of the Senate René Monory, as well as a friend of hers were on board.
The search for the bodies was made particularly difficult because the plane was submerged several meters in an area subject to very strong currents, and in which visibility for divers was almost zero. Gérard Leclerc, an emblematic figure of television, began his career as a journalist on the radio, on Europe 1 (1978-85) then RMC (1985) before spending three decades in the public service. In 2017 he became an editorial writer on CNews. The journalist was married to Julie Leclerc, historic voice of Europe 1 for almost 50 years, with whom he had three children.
Relive Julien Clerc's tribute to his brother, Gérard Leclerc, who was going to La Baule to attend the singer's concert when he lost his life
