The pilot of a tourist plane managed to land off the beach of Fréjus this morning after suffering an engine failure, in a scene worthy of an action movie. The three occupants of the aircraft are safe and sound, but traumatized by this experience.
The Cessna 177 landed shortly before 10 a.m. 600 metres offshore in rough seas. "He probably did not want to be too close to the coast to avoid the beach where many holidaymakers were already located," a spokesman for the Var fire brigade told AFP. "To achieve this, you need a lot of technique and a little luck," he added.
Firefighters, positioned on the beach where they were about to open the swimming surveillance station, immediately rescued the two women and the man on board.
The aircraft sank him. No trace of pollution has been detected at this stage in the sea.