2023-08-16 07:12:33
A small passenger plane crashed Tuesday in Lavau-sur-Loire, in Loire-Atlantique, announced the parquet floor of Saint-Nazaire on the night of Tuesday to this Wednesday, while traveling from the aerodrome of Loudun (Vienna) to La Baule (Loire-Atlantique). On board were three people, including the journalist Gérard Leclerc, who piloted it.
His death was quickly announced by the CNews channel, on which he officiated. “It is with infinite sadness that we learned of the death of Gérard Leclerc, emblematic editorialist” of the channel, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Gérald-Brice Viret, general manager of Canal + in charge of the antennas and programs of the group, to which the CNews channel belongs.
A shower of tributes
His colleague, journalist Laurence Ferrari, hailed the memory of a “very great journalist, a free spirit and an extraordinary teammate”. Pascal Praud, who welcomed him on his show, for his part, mourned the disappearance of an “honest man”, testifying to his “tremendous pain”. Bertrand Delais, current CEO of LCP, recalled “his casual and seductive intelligence… that of a free man”.
A historical figure of the PAF, Gérard Leclerc has also seen his memory hailed by many politicians. François Hollande hailed a “great political journalist. Cultivated, rigorous, elegant”. Republican President Eric Ciotti paid tribute to “an immense journalist”, while Macronist MP Karl Olive described him as “one of the most professional journalists of his generation”.
A career mainly in public service
Television figure, half-brother of singer Julien Clerc, Gérard Leclerc started his career as a radio journalist, on Europe 1 (1978-1985) then RMC (1985) before spending three decades in public service. He had then become one of the famous faces of Antenne 2, then France 2, in turn head of the economic and social service, columnist, special correspondent, editor-in-chief of the Télématin program and of the political service, deputy director of writing…
Gérard Leclerc then became editor-in-chief of the political, economic and social service at France 3 (2007-2009) before being appointed president of La Chaîne Parlementaire-National Assembly (LCP-AN) (2009-2015). Since 2017, he has been an editorial writer on CNews. The journalist was married to Julie Leclerc (Chantal Séloron in the city), historic voice of Europe 1 for almost 50 years, with whom he had three children.
An unexplained accident
According to a press release released overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday by the Saint-Nazaire public prosecutor’s office, the Robin DR 400 plane took off Tuesday at 11:07 a.m. from Loudun aerodrome (Vienne) bound for La Baule (Loire-Atlantique). At 11.37 a.m., the pilot of the plane had announced to the Nantes airport control tower that he was entering Saint-Nazaire airspace but he never announced himself to the authorities of the latter.
“He did not send any distress message. Available flight data allows the flight path to be tracked until 11:42 a.m. when it disappeared from radar. It was then located near Lavau-sur-Loire, ”continues the press release. “Very quickly, the alert was given and the emergency services started”, with the implementation of a SATER plan (air-land rescue).
Two other victims
The first plane debris was “spotted in the canals, including a wheel and a piece of registration”. “The research is made particularly difficult because the plane was submerged several meters in an area subject to very strong currents, and in which visibility for divers is almost zero,” said the Saint-Nazaire prosecutor’s office.
According to a source familiar with the matter, two bodies were located in the wreckage but could not be cleared. The daughter of former minister and Senate president René Monory and a friend of hers were also on board, one of these sources familiar with the matter told AFP. At this stage, two investigations are open: one judicial, entrusted to the air transport brigade and the Loire-Atlantique gendarmerie group, and a technical investigation carried out by the Bureau of Investigations and Analysis (BEA).
With AFP
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