On Friday afternoon, there was a light tourist plane crash in the Eure-et-Loir department in central-northern France, resulting in the deaths of all three people on board (two men and one woman). The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
The Eure-et-Loir prefecture government confirmed that the plane crashed around 4 p.m. on Friday in the town of Champhol, north of Chartres, the capital of Eure-et-Loir.
The small single-engine four-seater aircraft crashed in an open area in Champhol, fortunately avoiding direct impact with houses or causing casualties on the ground, although a car was damaged.
The prosecutor’s office in Chartres stated that the individuals on board included a 77-year-old experienced pilot and a couple in their sixties. The pilot was a former French army general.
Prosecutor Frédéric Chevallier of Chartres explained to AFP that the plane apparently encountered difficulties, but the exact cause is still unclear. The aircraft had to make an abrupt turn three minutes after takeoff and then collided with a low wall in the residential area.
The prosecutor emphasized that given the pilot’s experience, “he most likely did everything possible to avoid hitting residential buildings, thus minimizing the damage.”
The crashed plane belonged to a local flying club in Chartres. Upon receiving the report, the local fire and rescue department arrived on the scene promptly, securing the area and initiating cleanup and investigation work. The identities of the victims have not been disclosed yet.
The French Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and Analysis Bureau (BEA) has intervened to analyze the wreckage, flight parameters, and weather conditions.