A French pilot has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after the plane he was flying hit and beheaded a wingsuit parachutist over southern France in 2018.
According to reports, the pilot, identified only as 64-year-old Alain C, was found guilty on Tuesday after a trial by the criminal court in Montauban and sentenced to a suspended sentence. The pilot was also banned from flying for one year.
The guilty verdict stems from a July 2018 incident in which 40-year-old wingsuit parachutist Nicholas Galy was killed shortly after jumping from a single-engine Pilatus aircraft piloted by Alain C. A wingsuit skydiver wears a special jumpsuit with floating sleeves and membranes between the arms, body and legs that allow a diver to glide in the air.
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Galy was one of two wingsuit skydivers who jumped from the plane from a height of about 14,000 feet over the town of Bouloc-en-Quercy in the Occitanie region of southern France.
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A skydiver in a wingsuit prepares to jump from a mountainside. (WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)
However, disaster struck about 20 seconds after the couple jumped from the plane.
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Alain C quickly lowered the plane and caught up with the wingsuit parachutists who were gliding across the sky, the Times of London previously reported.
However, as the plane caught up with the parachutists, the left wing struck Galy, decapitating him, the release said.
A Pilatus PC-12 on final approach. The victim was hit by a similar type of aircraft. (Aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Galy’s body landed in a field after his emergency parachute opened.
During the trial, Alain argued that he had done nothing wrong, adding that Galy “did not follow the expected course and should never have taken that course.”
The pilot later said he thought Galy was further south, when in fact he was parallel to the plane.
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“I think my flight route made sense,” said Alain. “This was the tragedy of my life, but it’s not my fault.”
It also emerged during the trial that the pilot did not inform the skydivers about the jump and admitted that he had lost sight of the wingsuit duo, assuming that he had moved away from them. He noted that wingsuit jumpers don’t descend much and can come into conflict with the aircraft.
The plane was flying over the town of Bouloc-en-Quercy in the Occitanie region of southern France when the disaster occurred. (Google Maps)
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Witness statements also showed that Alain was operating the aircraft with an invalid license after breaching applicable restrictions due to illness.
The Midi-Pyrénées Parachuting School Association, which employed the pilot, was fined $21,800 (20,000 euros), half of which was suspended.
According to Isabelle Deschamps, the school’s president, security measures have been tightened since the incident and briefings have become mandatory.
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Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.