[caption id="attachment_72188" align="aligncenter" width="634"] Parachute Plane Crash[/caption]Belguan Parachuting Class Die in Plane Crash

Namur, Belgium - it was supposed to be a wonderful experience for a group of students to enjoy skydiving. However, the Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter plane transporting them threw a piece of a wing sending the plane into a death spiral.

"The plane took off from Temploux aerodrome with 10 parachutists and probably a pilot on board and crashed around 10 minutes later in a field. All those on board are unfortunately dead. The toll is 10 or 11 victims," the mayor of Fernelmont, Jean-Claude Nihoul, told AFP.

He added it was "very difficult" to be more precise given the state of the aircraft which was "unrecognisable" after being "burned up".

The plane crashed killing all aboard including the instructor. There were no casualties on the ground. It isn't known what caused the damage on the plane or if it was due to a lack of maintenance. Perhaps some might wonder why no one parachuted to safety before impact. The type of damage sustained by the plane threw it into such a violent tail spin as to throw the occupants about the cabin allowing no one the opportunity to jump out to safety.

"I just saw a plane lose its right wing in mid-flight and crash. I heard a massive 'bang' towards the south of Marchovelette. I didn't see anyone escape with a parachute," one witness told local television channel RTL.

Another local witness described seeing the plane fly over him with "pieces falling off it".
"Then the plane's nose dropped and it crashed 200 metres further on," the witness added.

Nicolas Hormans of the Paraclub Namur, whose skydivers were among the victims, told RTL network that the plane was probably about 3 kilometres high when it suddenly went down. He said the nosedive would have thrown everyone aboard around with such force that they would not have been able to jump out and parachute to safety.

"It has been a long time we have suffered a tragedy of such kind," said Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, who traveled to the site of the accident.

The crash has drawn the attention of this tiny nation's heads of state. A statement of confirmation regarding the crash was published along with words of condolence from Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo. King Philippe also stated his intent to tour the site of the crash and offer up a symbolic gesture of comfort to the nation.

The city of Namur is located in South central Belgium and is home to 110,000 inhabitants.

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