Plane forced to make emergency landing crashes into garden wall in Paris suburb
Four people have miraculously survived after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing before crashing into someone’s back garden. The small twin-engine aircraft crashed in Villejuif, a suburb of southern Paris[1], after suffering engine failure, transport minister Clement Beaune said in a tweet. All of the people on board were taken to hospital requiring urgent attention, but their injuries were not considered life-threatening, officials said.
No one else was injured in the incident. The three people on board excluding the pilot were a flying instructor in his 80s and two passengers in their late 20s, according to local media reports. Photos shared on social media showed the small plane lying in the garden of an apartment building, with the tail seen not too far away.
Incredibly the apartment is still intact, with no smashed windows. The rear part of the aircraft detached from the rest of the plane and its wings were also torn off by the impact of the crash.
‘UK’s most dangerous zebra crossing’ dubbed too risky for lollipop man to work on it[2]
Police officers stand by the tail of the small plane that had detached from the rest (AP)
The emergency landing was carried out due to a “technical problem”, said Sebastien Barthe, the communications director for the safety agency (BAE). He continued: “We will examine all aspects, including the pilot’s health and the aircraft’s mechanical condition.” The plane began its emergency landing on a road before crashing against the wall of an apartment building, causing traffic in both directions to halt.
The plane originally took off from Rouen and was supposed to land in Toussus-le-Noble, near Versailles. An investigation into possible charges including causing involuntary injuries and endangering the lives of others has been opened by the regional prosecutor and the air transport gendarmerie. The transport minister said a separate investigation will also be carried out by the civil aviation authority.
A decade ago in the UK, a 76-year-old pilot, from London, suffered minor injuries after his light aircraft crashed into a back garden in Cheltenham. The homeowner’s son Jamie Greeff was in bed at the time and said the noise was like “something out of a movie”. He continued: “We have building work going on next door and all the builders were yelling, and I just thought it was building equipment,” said 16-year-old Jamie.
The next thing I know my dad is yelling at me that a plane has crashed into the garden. And then I look out the back and there is this plane in the trees and the pilot was yelling that he was alright.” Gloucestershire Airport, at Staverton, which is 2.5 miles from the scene, said the 4-seat aircraft had been on its way to land there at the time of the crash.
A spokesperson for the airport said at the time that the pilot deployed an emergency parachute system forcing the residential landing.
References
- ^ Paris (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ ‘UK’s most dangerous zebra crossing’ dubbed too risky for lollipop man to work on it (www.mirror.co.uk)