A group of skydivers perished on Saturday (October 19) when a part of the plane carrying them broke off sending it plunging to the ground.
The plane took off from a small airport near Namur, central Belgium, carrying members of a local skydiving club, and crashed 20 minutes later near Fernelmont, south-east of Brussels.
“According to witnesses, a part of the plane broke off, it spiralled, nosedived and crashed into the ground like a stone,” Jean-Claude Nihoul, mayor of Fernelmont, told Reuters news agency.
He said three of the passengers had tried to save themselves by jumping from the plane but they were too late. All of the dead were Belgium nationals.
The Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter plane carrying the instructors and skydiving pupils took off in partly cloudy conditions over the wooded and hilly area about 40 miles south of Brussels.
Nicolas Hormans of the Paraclub Namur, whose skydivers were among the victims, told RTL network that the plane was probably about 2 miles high when it suddenly went down. He said the nosedive would have thrown everyone aboard around with such force that they would not have been able to jump out and parachute to safety.
Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo promptly issued a statement confirming the crash and saying his thoughts are with the families of the victims.
