Summary
- A Cessna 172 Skyhawk crashed on a highway in the Île-de-France region, killing all three people on board.
- The French Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for Civil Aviation Security (BEA) has opened an investigation.
- The aircraft, a Cessna C172 registered F-GCHO, departed the Lognes-Emerainville aerodrome (LFPL) at 14:45.
A Cessna 172 Skyhawk has crashed on a highway in the Île-de-France region, local French media are reporting. The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon, leaving all three people dead. The small aircraft crashed into the A4 highway at 15:38 local time.
An investigation has been opened
The French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) has confirmed the incident, issuing the following statement on Twitter (translated from French).
“Fatal accident of a Cessna C172 registered F-GCHO which occurred today on the A4 highway near the town of Collégien.”
It added that it has opened an investigation, with two of its representatives on-site. Agence France-Presse (AFP) is reporting that the incident had three fatalities, of which two men and one woman. Speaking to AFP, Jean-Baptiste Bladier, the prosecutor of the French commune Meaux, said:
The pilot, born in 1989, has held a pilot’s license since 2023 and had, a priori, just over 100 hours’ flying experience.”
Crash-landed on the highway
The incident occurred near the town of Collégien in the Île-de-France region. The country’s capital city, Paris, is also situated in the same region. The prosecutor’s office also confirmed that the plane “crashed on the A4 highway after very clearly colliding with a high-voltage power line.” The magistrate has opened an investigation into manslaughter.
The collision did not affect vehicles on the highway. Shortly after the incident, the A4 was closed on both sides, with a diversion in place. It has since been reopened (as of 10:10 p.m.).
Photos published on social media show the aircraft upside down, right in between the two sides of the road. The local Seine-et-Marne prefecture posted the following on social media.
“A department operational center has been activated in the Seine-et-Marre prefecture after a plane came down on the A4 interchange. State services, rescue and safety forces have been mobilized.”
Second crash in a year
The aircraft in question, a Cessna C172 registered F-GCHO, had departed the Lognes-Emerainville aerodrome (LFPL) at 14:45. The incident, therefore, occurred barely an hour later.
Photo: GCMap.com
Le Parisien reports that this is not the first time an aircraft has crashed on landing at Lognes-Emerainville airfield. Back in July 2023, a Piper PA-28-181 Archer II missed the runway and instead crash-landed on the guardrail of highway N104 with three people on board. While all three passengers survived, the pilot was slightly injured.
The Lognes-Emerainville Aerodrome Residents Association – an organization that aims to “defend all local residents who are victims of the noise” caused by the airfield, said:
“A tourist plane from Lognes-Emerainville (aéroflight flying club) has crashed for the second time in a year on the A4 near Collégien. Its residents deplore the security risk around this aerodrome which flies over an extremely urbanized area.”