Shocking moment tourist plane in French alps nosedives and crashes near airport, killing three people

The grim momenta plane crash that left three people dead in France was recorded in chilling footage. The crash, near Voglans in the southeastern French department of Savoie, occurred this morning.

The light aircraft came down close to Chambéry airport, a small international airport. “There are people dead ," the Chambéry prosecutor's office confirmed to a regional French news outlet earlier today. Footage shows the small aircraft ploughing nose down into the ground, close to a building, with dirt and debris being thrown up into the air.

It is understood that the deceased include one male pilot and two female passengers. The plane, a Robin DR-400, is reported to have belonged to the Chambéry flying club.

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The aircraft did not catch fire after it came down, authorities confirmed, adding that the "tourist plane crashed south of the airport” and did not hit any homes but a fence was damaged. Specialist officers were dispatched to help the family members of the deceased and those who witnessed the incident.

At the scene, emergency services from the fire service, ambulances and police could be spotted. A police investigation is underway.

"The firefighters from the Savoie departmental fire and rescue service, the SAMU (emergency medical services) and the Chambéry air transport gendarmerie brigade, and units from the national gendarmerie group are currently on site," a spokesperson from the Savoie prefecture said. They added: "The precise circumstances of the accident are unknown at this time and may be determined as part of the judicial investigation."

Savoie’s prefect Vanina Nicoli said she “extends her sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims”.

It comes after a small plane that took off from neighbouring Germany crashed in the Austrian Alps on Saturday, killing all four people on board, authorities said. The propeller plane crashed near Wald im Pinzgau, in Salzburg province, at 12:45 p.m. local time and apparently burst into flames.

Police said three men and a woman were killed, and that they were believed to be German, the Austria Press Agency reported. The plane had taken off for a round-trip flight from an airfield in Oberschleissheim, near Munich.

The deceased included a 70-year-old man, his son, 33, and the son’s girlfriend, 33. The couple were from the German city of Regensburg. The pilot, was named as 59-year-old Markt Schwaben.

The single-engine aircraft had taken off for a sightseeing flight from Oberschleißheim Airport near Munich on Saturday. The aircraft ran into problems near its destination of the Krimml Waterfalls and over 70 firefighters had to be called to the scene.

The wreckage, largely destroyed, is being investigated by an expert to try and determine the cause of the crash.