A skydiving aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff in northeastern France on Sunday, killing all 11 people on board, according to local authorities. The accident occurred near the town of Tomblaine, on the outskirts of Nancy, after the plane lifted off from Nancy-Essey aerodrome at around 11 a.m. local time. The aircraft, a German-registered Pilatus PC-6 turboprop, came down in a grassy area close to a residential neighbourhood and a shopping centre. Prefect Yves Séguy of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department told reporters the machine "fell almost vertically" following a malfunction, narrowly missing homes and a bicycle path. No one on the ground was injured.

Officials confirmed that among the dead were the pilot, five skydiving instructors and five novices taking part in a tandem jump session, a common initiation in which beginners are harnessed to experienced parachutists. Many of the victims' relatives and friends were waiting at the airfield to watch the jumps and witnessed the aircraft plunge. Emergency medical and psychological support units were swiftly deployed to assist them and other witnesses, the prefecture said.

Authorities have not yet released the identities of the deceased pending formal identification, but multiple French news outlets, citing Thierry Pechey, president of the Meurthe-et-Moselle order of independent nurses, reported that a large proportion of the students were freelance nurses from the Nancy area. A police source told the local newspaper L'Est Républicain that the group had chartered the flight for a weekend skydiving outing. The provisional death toll remains 11 while forensic teams work at the site.

The Paris public prosecutor's collective accidents section has opened a judicial inquiry, entrusting the investigation to the Air Transport Gendarmerie. France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) is conducting a parallel technical investigation. Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot described the toll as "particularly high" and said it was the country's deadliest skydiving-related aviation accident in roughly 30 years. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez visited the crash site, praising the coordination of police, firefighters and civil security forces. No cause has been determined, and officials have declined to speculate, saying a thorough examination of the wreckage and maintenance records is under way.