Châteauroux: one dead in an aircraft crash

A few days after the deaths of three people in a light aircraft in Eure-et-Loir, a new tragedy struck the same region this morning. A 53-year-old pilot died Saturday morning when his single-engine plane crashed at Châteauroux airfield, the town's prosecutor announced.

The public prosecutor's office was informed shortly before 10:00 a.m. of "the crash of a DR 1050 aircraft near the runway of the Châteauroux/Villers-les-Ormes airfield," according to a press release from the prosecutor. "The pilot was confirmed dead when emergency services and law enforcement arrived at 9:45 a.m.," continued David Marcat, public prosecutor of Châteauroux.

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According to initial information gathered on site, the control tower received a distress message from the pilot shortly after takeoff, informing of engine failure and an immediate return for a forced landing. "Nevertheless, the aircraft crashed into a field while attempting to reach the runway," the magistrate said.

The pilot was an experienced pilot and owner of the aircraft, and had been a frequent flyer at the airfield club for several years, according to the same source. A judicial investigation has been opened into involuntary manslaughter by manifestly deliberate violation of a duty of safety or prudence.

The investigation has been jointly entrusted to the BGTA (Air Transport Gendarmerie) and the Châteauroux police station "in order to determine whether the accident was due to a technical failure of the aircraft and/or pilot error," according to the prosecutor. An autopsy of the body is scheduled for early next week.