«Left from Caen around 7 a.m. this morning, the aircraft was carrying two men in their sixties who were going to the ULM world fair in Blois,» said the Calvados prefecture in a press release on Saturday evening.
The alert was given around 10:15 a.m. by the pilot of a second ULM, who had also taken off from Caen, a few minutes apart, and who was worried not to see the other aircraft on his arrival in Blois. .
A civil security helicopter and members of the gendarmerie were hired to carry out aerial and ground searches in the area of the last known position of the aircraft.
“A gendarmerie patrol from the Falaise company discovered the ULM and its two occupants, who were obviously deceased, around 12:30 p.m.,” the statement continued.
Investigators from the BGTA (air transport gendarmerie brigade) of Brest and the BEA (civil aviation safety investigation and analysis office) went to the scene and an investigation was opened.