Two people died Thursday in Haute-Savoie in the accident of their passenger plane in the Mont-Blanc massif, on the Argentière glacier, the department's prefecture said on Friday.
The tragedy took place at the end of the afternoon shortly after the aircraft took off from Albertville, in Savoie, “
for an overview of the Mont-Blanc massif
”, when contact with the victims was lost.
The “
SATER
” plan (aero-terrestrial rescue) was then triggered by the prefects of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, explains the prefecture in a press release.
Read alsoMountain in summer: our selection of new things in the Alps and the Pyrenees
"
As nightfall and weather conditions did not allow overflight of the sector where the aircraft had been detected for the last time, search operations were suspended until daybreak
" on Friday, it says. from the same source.
“
Heavily damaged
” on the ground, the plane was discovered at 6:30 a.m. by the crew of the helicopter from the high mountain gendarmerie platoon (PGHM), “
in the center of the Argentières glacier at an altitude of 2,600 meters
” .
Its two occupants - an instructor and his student - did not survive the accident.
A judicial inquiry has been opened to determine the circumstances of the tragedy.