Eleven people are dead. A skydiving plane went down in eastern France. The aircraft, a Pilatus PC-12, crashed near the town of Grenoble. British safety protocols are now under review. The Department for Transport has confirmed an urgent review of regulations governing tandem skydiving operations.
This is a story with more questions than answers. What caused a routine jump flight to become a fireball? We don't know yet. But Whitehall is spooked. The British Skydiving Association is briefing MPs. They want to assure them that UK jump planes are safe. They have a list of accredited operators. They will point to a safety record that is, on paper, exemplary.
But the whispers in the bars of Westminster are different. There is a quiet concern about the regulation of foreign operators offering jump packages to British tourists. A source close to the Civil Aviation Authority told me they are “taking a close interest” in the crash site investigation.
This is a tragedy. Eleven families have been destroyed. But for the political class, it is also a moment of risk. The Transport Secretary is due to make a statement. The wording has been drafted and redrafted. It must show compassion, but also competence. A wrong note could spell a backbench rebellion from the 1922 Committee. They smell weakness.
The French inquiry will take months. The British review will be quicker, perhaps a matter of weeks. But the real game is about perception. Can the government be seen to act decisively? Or will this become another story of regulatory drift?
I will be watching the email traffic from the Department for Transport. The permanent secretary will be cautious. He knows that a poorly handled review can become a political weapon. The opposition will demand a public inquiry. The government will resist, until it cannot.
The key player here is the regulator. The CAA has a difficult brief. It does not want to be seen as blame-shifting. But it also knows that the political pendulum swings hard after a tragedy. So expect a crackdown. Expect new rules. Expect the jump industry to be unhappy. But that is the price of survival.
For now, the focus is on the dead. Their names will be released in due course. The families are being notified. In the quiet corridors of Whitehall, officials are preparing for the inevitable political storm. This is how it always begins.
