Pilot dies in crash of plane pulling glider

A fire truck during an intervention (illustration) -

The 75-year-old pilot was found dead when help arrived.

The tow plane of a glider crashed Wednesday afternoon at the top of Artzamendi, south of the town of Itxassou (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), said the prefecture of Pyrénées-Atlantiques in a press release.

"The alert was given by the passengers of the glider plane which was able to land without damage" she explains.

For an as yet undetermined reason, the aircraft would have gone into a spin, specifies France Bleu Pays Basque, then would have caught fire by crashing, adds 

.

The pilot had time to unhook the glider he was pulling.

His two passengers would be very shocked.

Open investigation

Significant material and human resources went to the site for the rescue and fire extinguishing operations, including the medicalized ECU64 gendarmerie helicopter.

A security perimeter was also set up by the gendarmes around the accident.

An investigation by the air transport gendarmerie brigade (BGTA) was carried out to determine the causes of the accident.

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• Aquitaine

• Crash

• Plane crash

• Pays Basque

• Society