This is the horrifying moment a tourist plane nose dives and crashes yards from houses in the French Alpes – killing three.

The incident happened on Wednesday morning, shortly before 11am local time (10am BST) near Chambéry Airport, Voglans.

Shocking CCTV footage shows the aircraft hurtling into the ground as debris flies up into the air. 

The Savoie prefecture has confirmed the deaths of two women and one man in the plane crash.

Witnesses said they saw the aircraft drifting sideways for several minutes over the Leysse River. 

‘We heard a huge noise that was nothing like that of a normal plane, then it crashed,’ said a local resident. 

Savoie prefecture’s Vanina Nicoli mentioned that the Savoie departmental fire and rescue service, the SAMU, and the Chambéry air transport gendarmerie brigade, along with units from the national gendarmerie group are present at the scene.

This is the horrifying moment a tourist plane nose dives and crashes yards from houses in the French Alpes – killing three

The incident happened on Wednesday morning, shortly before 11am local time (10am BST) near Chambéry Airport, Voglans

Around 20 firefighters, four members of the Emergency Medical Services (Smur), and about fifteen gendarmes are at the scene, it is thought

She also stated that a medical-psychological emergency unit is being mobilized to provide assistance to the victims’ families and witnesses of the incident.

The prefecture highlighted that the exact circumstances of the accident are currently unknown and will be established as a part of the judicial investigation.

Nicoli said she ‘extends her sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims.’

Around 20 firefighters, four members of the Emergency Medical Services (Smur), and about fifteen gendarmes are at the scene, it is thought. 

Extrication operations are occurring in order to safeguard other passengers. 

Chambéry Aiport is a small international airport near Chambéry, a commune in Savoy.

It is the closest airport to the Tarentaise Valley, and France’s most popular ski resorts, like Meribel, Courchevel, Tignes and Val d’Isere.

The tragedy isn’t the only fatal plane crash to happen in France recently.

Just weeks ago, a French army general died after the plane he was piloting went down and crashed into a residential area, also killing a couple onboard.

The air disaster occurred shortly before 4pm on June 27 in Champhol, a town in central France.

The unnamed ‘seasoned and experienced’ pilot was a 77-year-old former army general, while the couple onboard the light aircraft were a man and a woman in their sixties, the Chartres Public Prosecutor, Frederic Chevallier, said.

No homes in the area were affected, with Chevallier suggesting that ‘the pilot likely prevented a greater tragedy by avoiding the houses’, but said that a parked car had been damaged in the crash.

The devastating accident is believed to have occurred around three minutes after take-off, according to local media.

Initial investigations suggest that the aircraft executed a turn that was probably too tight.

The prosecutor said that the plane made a ‘sudden turn’ before making a ‘rapid descent’ towards a ‘low wall in a garden’ before crashing and coming to a stop.

Emergency services rushed to the scene of the crash and tried to resuscitate the victims, who were all pronounced dead at the scene.