Tuesday January 21, a tourist plane crashed on the roof of a chalet in the town of Méribel-les-Allues (Savoie). The two passengers on the plane died. Here's what we know about the accident.
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Around 5 p.m., Tuesday January 21, a tourist plane with two people on board crashed into the roof of a chalet in the commune of Allues, near the resort of Méribel in Savoie. Circumstances, victims… Here is what we know after this crash.
Paragliders involved
“A single-engine plane, with two occupants on board, ended up on the roof of a chalet in Méribel“, said Tuesday, January 21, the public prosecutor of Albertville, Benoît Bachelet. “Before crashing, the plane apparently caught two paragliders in flight.“The plane crashed on the roof of a chalet in a residential area of the town, under the eyes of several witnesses.
“When I saw a plane nose dive and take two paragliders on board, they tangled together, swung their skis and landed lower in some trees. Everyone stopped in the street, everyone was looking, it was a bit panicked“, a tourist present on site testified on France 2. A judicial investigation was opened to clarify the circumstances of the accident.
-Two people died
On site, emergency services carried out extrication operations to help the two people on the plane. But according to information from the Savoie prefecture, the two passengers ultimately did not survive the crash, despite the extensive deployment (30 vehicles involved, 46 firefighters). “The accident resulted in a kerosene leak which flowed into the chalet“, making it difficult to secure the premises, according to this source.
The two deceased victims were aged 58 and 26. The fifty-year-old, owner of the aircraft, would be a professional pilot with a passion for mountains and a former member of the Méribel flying club. The passenger would be a young co-pilot on a Belgian company.
The paragliders, who were flying on a two-seater, managed to trigger their emergency parachute and escaped unhurt. The occupants of the chalet were evacuated and relocated, according to information from the firefighters.
A medical-psychiatric unit set up
The Savoie prefecture indicates that a medical-psychiatric emergency unit has been set up to take care of people who witnessed the accident as well as the victims' relatives. The circumstances of this tragedy are unknown at the moment and will have to be determined as part of a judicial investigation.
A plane known to amateurs
The accident plane is believed to be a Piper PA-18 Super Cub, registered F-BAYP. A historic aircraft known to aviation enthusiasts. This single-engine aircraft, owned by Henri Giraud in the 50s and 60s (one of the fathers of high mountain aviation), landed at the summit of Mont Blanc on June 23, 1960, a first.
