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Tourist plane sinks in sea off France after engine failure

A pilot landed his tourist plane in choppy waters off southern France on Sunday after the aircraft's engine broke down, with all occupants surviving unharmed, firefighters said.

Published: 30 July 2023 14:35 CEST
Tourist plane sinks in sea off France after engine failure
An aerial view of the port of Saint-Raphael, Frejus, southern France. (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP)

The Cessna 177 touched down 600 metres (1,968 feet) off the coast near the Mediterranean resort of Frejus shortly before 10am.

The local fire service said the pilot chose the location to “avoid the beach, where there were already a lot of holidaymakers”.

“To pull that off, you need a lot of technical ability and a bit of luck,” a spokesman said.

French news channel BFMTV on Sunday afternoon tweeted images of the plane wreckage in the sea, prior to the aircraft sinking.

“Emergency landing in Fréjus: the impressive images of the rescue of the plane’s passengers,” it reported.

Firefighters rescued two women and one man, who escaped unharmed but were shaken up.

The plane sank, although no pollution has been detected in the sea so far.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Revealed: The ’15-minute rule’ on French trains

A recent update to SNCF Voyageurs' general terms and conditions of sale requires passengers to take their seats within 15 minutes of departure, or risk losing it.

Published: 18 September 2024 16:21 CEST
Revealed: The '15-minute rule' on French trains

“Failure to claim a reserved seat within 15 minutes of the train’s departure from the station indicated on the ticket may result in the loss of the reserved seat and, more generally, of any seat,” reads a September update of the general terms and conditions of sale.

Consumer watchdog UFC Que Choisir spotted the update to SNCF’s T&Cs earlier this month. 

Its meaning is clear. If your seat is left vacant during this period – for example if you have decided to head for a coffee in the buffet car before finding your seat – it can potentially be reallocated to another passenger.

But, it turns out, it’s all a bit of a storm in a teacup. The intention, according to SNCF Voyageurs, is not to catch out unwitting customers. It told BFM TV that it was intended to “facilitate the repositioning of customers on board in the event of a passenger’s absence”.

And it has its origins in a 2021 European regulation that allows passengers travelling without a reserved seat to claim one if it is free, or considered to be free.

In truth, not many passengers board TGVs without a reserved seat – when you book your ticket you are usually allocated a number ticket. When booking online you can select whether you want to be upstairs or downstairs, in a window or aisle seat or choose to request a seat next to a friend. If you are travelling in first class you can select the precise seat you would like.

But it can happen – for example, if a traveller has missed a connection, they will be invited to board the next train in that case will not have a reserved seat. Likewise if a train has been cancelled, passengers will usually be invited to take the next one.

Equally, the vast majority of TGV users find their seats as a matter of priority, rather than heading immediately for the buffet car. Furthermore, SNCF Voyageurs said that the rule has been in place for some time, and that staff on the train would seek to find a solution in cases of conflict. 

“No new instructions have been given to train managers, and the inclusion of this practice in the T&Cs is for information purposes only.”

The rule applies only to the high-speed TGV trains – both InOui and the budget OuiGo lines – but not the InterCité or local TER lines. On TER trains seats are usually not reserved so are allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis (or possibly on a ‘standing in the corridor’ basis if you are on an especially busy train).

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