Small Touring Plane Crashes at Entrance to Gulf of Saint-Tropez; One Person Found Dead

Overview

• Contact with a Rallye-type two-seat touring aircraft was lost about 14:40 off Roquebrune-sur-Argens, roughly three nautical miles from the coast, and the plane later crashed into the sea near the entrance to the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.
• Regional rescue authorities coordinated a multi-unit response that deployed firefighter semi-rigid boats with divers, SNSM and customs vessels, and a navy helicopter to search the area.
• Search teams recovered one deceased person from the water and are continuing operations to find the aircraft’s wreckage and recover any other occupants.
• Local reporting said the recovered victim was a man in his 50s and that the wreckage may lie about 400 meters deep, but authorities have not officially confirmed the identity or the depth of the wreck.
• The maritime prefecture and Cross Med will lead the follow-up investigation to recover the aircraft, confirm who was aboard, and establish the cause of the crash.