Two pilots killed as small plane crashes near Rochefort air base

Two pilots were killed on Thursday when their small aircraft crashed near the Rochefort-Saint-Agnant air base in Charente-Maritime, western France, prosecutors and the aircraft's manufacturer said. The crash happened at around 11:00 local time, according to the public prosecutor in La Rochelle, who confirmed the deaths of both pilots to local broadcaster ICI La Rochelle on Thursday afternoon.

The aircraft belonged to Elixir Aircraft, a La Rochelle-based manufacturer that employs 240 people and builds lighter, more environmentally friendly planes using composite materials, according to Franceinfo. The company confirmed the crash in a statement issued on Thursday. "We have the painful duty to announce the deaths of its two pilots... All our thoughts are with the families of our dear colleagues," the company said in that statement confirming the accident involving one of its aircraft.

The plane crashed at the end of the civilian airport's runway before coming to a stop inside the adjoining military base, BFMTV reported. Access to the civilian airport has been closed to all traffic while investigations into the crash continue, the broadcaster said, citing local officials familiar with the airfield's operations.

No damage or other casualties were reported within the military zone itself, according to officials from the French air and space force's information and public relations service, who were cited by BFMTV responding to questions about the base's own operations that day.

Gendarmes from the air transport investigation brigade in Mérignac travelled to the scene, and a specialist unit of the air transport gendarmerie is investigating the circumstances and cause of the crash. Elixir Aircraft said its company president was at the site to coordinate directly with the authorities, and that further details on the inquiry's findings would be released in due course as they became available.

The company told BFMTV that its own internal investigation into the crash is continuing in parallel with the official inquiry, and that additional information would be shared "in due course." Rochefort-Saint-Agnant is a joint-use site, hosting both a French Air and Space Force base and a civilian aerodrome used by flying schools and light-aircraft manufacturers based in the surrounding Charente-Maritime region. BFMTV reported that both occupants of the aircraft were pilots employed directly by the manufacturer, rather than trainees or passengers taking a test flight that day.