Paris, Dec 8, (dpa/GNA) – Four people died when a light aircraft came down in the French Pyrenees, prosecutors in the town of Foix reported on Monday.
The single-engined plane was found in snow-covered terrain at a height of 2,000 metres on Sunday evening, following an emergency call. The cause of the accident has yet to be determined.
The dead include a 25-year-old flight instructor and three trainees from the National College for Civil Aviation (ENAC) in Toulouse, aged between 18 and 21.
Prosecutors said an emergency call had gone out, after the flight failed to return as scheduled to the airfield in Saint-Girons to the south of Toulouse.
The aircraft was found in inaccessible terrain in darkness, with the aid of two helicopters.
A mountain gendarmerie official abseiled down to the wreck to find the four deceased. The bodies will now have to be recovered from the accident site, which cannot be reached by road.
ENAC trains pilots for the Air France airline and for civil aviation.
GNA