Mid-air in France
A translation from this mornings French press...
"The small ULM crashed rue Aristide Briand, (less than two kilometers from downtown Loches, editor's note) and the tourist plane in the Haut Jarry sector, a little on the outskirts of the town, not far of the water tower, ”she said.
According to Tours public prosecutor Grégoire Dulin, "two bodies were found in the ULM and two others on the plane". "A person who would have fallen, probably from the plane, was not found," he added, adding that the plane had crashed into a tree in a place difficult to access.
"The pilot of the plane is 75 years old, his two passengers 28 and 30 years old. The pilot of the ULM is 66 years old and his passenger 50 years old", specified Mr. Dulin, adding that there was " no family relationship "between these people."
This corresponds to witness reports of someone falling from one of aircraft.
"The small ULM crashed rue Aristide Briand, (less than two kilometers from downtown Loches, editor's note) and the tourist plane in the Haut Jarry sector, a little on the outskirts of the town, not far of the water tower, ”she said.
According to Tours public prosecutor Grégoire Dulin, "two bodies were found in the ULM and two others on the plane". "A person who would have fallen, probably from the plane, was not found," he added, adding that the plane had crashed into a tree in a place difficult to access.
"The pilot of the plane is 75 years old, his two passengers 28 and 30 years old. The pilot of the ULM is 66 years old and his passenger 50 years old", specified Mr. Dulin, adding that there was " no family relationship "between these people."
This corresponds to witness reports of someone falling from one of aircraft.
https://www.ledauphine.com/faits-div...corps-retrouve
That would be "Cieux Bleus " but I don't think that is said either.
I don't think the correctness of the language matters. What does concern me is knowing the identity of the microlight pilot without worrying relatives. The name of the DR400 pilot has been made public. Does anyone know who the pilot of the microlight was? It's rather close to home for me. By PM if you prefer.
Yes, thank you, but I wanted the name of the microlight pilot. Expect I will find out tomorrow. Could be one of two instructors, or someone else entirely. It's a strange place to be sightseeing, especially at low level, rather than over the Loire Châteaux. Loches has some interesting history, but isn't terribly visually exciting.
"C’était un vol découverte permettant d’embarquer des personnes extérieures au club. Ils devaient survoler quatre châteaux de la Loire et revenir à Poitiers."
Yes, indeed But Loches is rather on the way to the Chateaux , or on the way back from either of the airfields, not a place where any significant sightseeing takes place, so I would normally have expected both aircraft to be in cruise at that point. It's quite a small town surrounded by woods and fields, so one in the town and one outside isn't surprising. Only one large building, not of great visual interest compared with the Chateaux on the Loire. Benign weather, good visibility. One report mentioned the aircraft were low, but no actual height indication. The Pioneer is a fairly fast microlight, both types have excellent visibility for the pilot. I'm really struggling to imagine how this happened.
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The plane is indeed a Robin DR400. No flight plan was filed by either DR400 and ULM. If flight plan were filed and active contact with FIS established, the mid air collision could probably have been avoided.
