“I heard like firecrackers, I saw the plane on fire”: the plane crashes just after takeoff in Savoie, two tourists killed

The plane was registered in Austria and the pilot, aged 54, was Austrian MAXPPP – Jean-Marc Quinet

A tourist plane crashed this Thursday, May 9, just after takeoff in Savoie. The occupants of the aircraft, two Austrians, died.

This Thursday, May 9, in the middle of the afternoon, a tourist plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Challes-les aerodrome. Waters, around 4 p.m. According to the first elements collected by On Dauphiné Libéré, witnesses heard a loud noise before the plane crashed and caught fire. Despite the rapid arrival rescue, the two people on board lost their lives.

The plane crashed into a gravel pit just after takeoff. Criminal identification technicians from the gendarmerie went to the site as did the Chambéry Public Prosecutor's Office. Still according to our colleagues from Dauphiné Libéré, the plane was registered in Austria and the pilot, aged 54, was Austrian. The second person on board was his partner, aged 49.

"Like firecrackers"

A security perimeter was established and the nearest residents were evacuated. As the device was equipped with a pyrotechnic device used to trigger an emergency parachute, civil security deminers had to intervene to defuse it.

"I heard like firecrackers, I thought it was young people, and when I looked out the window I saw smoke and the plane on fire, the gendarmes just came by to tell me to evacuate, indicated, on site, a resident, at France Bleu Pays de Savoie.