The victims included the pilot and 10 passengers, among them five skydiving students and five instructors. According to local officials, the aircraft belonged to a parachuting school and had taken off from Nancy-Essey Airfield before crashing shortly after departure.
The aircraft went down in a built-up area near a shopping centre in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department. Authorities said the plane plunged almost vertically, narrowly avoiding nearby residential buildings.
Officials confirmed that no one on the ground was injured despite the crash occurring close to homes and commercial areas. Police have urged the public to stay away from the area while emergency services and investigators continue their work.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot described the incident as a "terrible tragedy" and said he was travelling to the crash site along with Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.
Local officials said several relatives of the victims were present at the airfield when the aircraft crashed. Thierry Pechey, president of the Meurthe-et-Moselle branch of the Order of Independent Nurses, said that five of those who died were nurses participating in the skydiving activity.
Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.
