What: Happy Lines Pilatus PC-12/45 en route from Antwerp to Switzerland
Where: Solemont, France
When: August 24, 2012
Who: 4 aboard, 4 fatalities
Why: Eye witnesses say that the Pilatus was en route Friday night when it was struck by lightning. Forty minutes after the plane had sent out a distress call, emergency services found the wreck. Debris from the plane is scattered over a wide area.
Those on the plane included the pilot, aged 57, a woman passenger aged 20, and two men aged 36 and 51. All the remains have not been found and identified, although family members have been informed.
The accident is under investigation, and no specific cause has been released. Heavy rain was falling at the time of the crash, and there was low visibility. The four aboard the plane were from Switzerland. Late Friday, the Minister of Economy and Finance and managing director of the city of Montbéliard, Pierre Moscovici, expressed his “emotion” and “deep sympathy” towards victims.
