Plane crash in Ariège: an open investigation for manslaughter

the essential The prosecution of Foix, in Ariège, opened an investigation, Tuesday, April 12, for involuntary homicides after the crash of a plane in Prat-Bonrepaux. Simon de la Bretèche and Baptiste Vignes, both aerobatic world champions, had lost their lives there on the same day. What really happened in Prat-Bonrepaux on Tuesday April 12 at 11:14 a.m.? This is the question that will try to answer the investigators of the Ariège gendarmerie group and the research section (SR) of the air transport gendarmerie (GTA). The two entities were jointly seized of the investigation opened by the public prosecutor of Foix, Olivier Mouysset, for “manslaughter”, after the crash which cost the lives of two aerobatic world champion pilots. Read also: Crash of a small plane in Ariège: what we know about the tragedy that left two dead Simon de la Bretèche and Baptiste Vignes are the two pilots who perished in the accident of a small two-seater plane aerobatics. The first, from Le Mans, in Sarthe. He was about to celebrate his 40th birthday. The second was from Normandy. He had started flying at the age of 14 at the aero-club in Le Havre, in Seine-Maritime. Read also: Plane crash in Ariège: “I heard two big booms”, says a witness to the Prat-Bonrepaux accident The two men had been in Ariège for several days. They were employed by the company Aura Aéro, as confirmed by the company based at Toulouse-Francazal airport (Haute-Garonne). They were carrying out tests on a prototype green plane undergoing certification. An autopsy performed “An autopsy on both bodies was performed this [mercredi] morning before the bodies are returned to the families, either this Wednesday evening or this Thursday [14 avril au] morning”, indicates, Wednesday April 13, the prosecutor Olivier Mouysset. Toxicological samples, alcoholemia and narcotics, were carried out. Simon de la Bretèche and Baptiste Vignes took off Tuesday April 12 from the aerodrome of Saint-Girons-Antichan. The weather seemed correct according to local residents who heard the engine suddenly stop. The two men had been in Ariège for several days. “Our thoughts are with the families of the victims. We cannot provide any additional information, an investigation is underway,” said a spokeswoman for the Haute-Garonne company. For a reason that has yet to be determined, the two men lost control of their aircraft. They crashed in a field which is bordered by the departmental road 553 which connects Prat-Bonrepaux to a place called Gèle, in the direction of the east. The rescuers could not do anything It was a farmer who the alert. The man is a resident of the village. He was tending to his herd of cows when he saw the plane sinking and then heading for the ground. He joined the firefighters at 11:14 a.m. then the gendarmerie before going directly to the scene of the tragedy. There, he found a nurse who was jogging on this rather sunny Tuesday. Despite the rapid intervention of the emergency services, which arrived three minutes after the alert, according to a press release from the prefecture, the firefighters and the Samu did not nt able to resuscitate the two men, in cardiopulmonary arrest. Investigators were still on site Wednesday, April 13 to continue trying to unravel the mystery of this dramatic accident which leaves the world of aerobatics in mourning.