On August 15, 2023, we learned with horror of the death of Gerard Leclerc and two friends, following a plane crash that the 71-year-old journalist was piloting. The tragedy had shaken the world of television, but also and above all his family, starting with his half-brother, Julien Clerc. “My brother had arranged to meet me here tonight and fate decided otherwise. If there is one thing I am sure of, it is that he would have hated it if we were sad and he would have hated it if I didn’t sing,” the singer said on stage a few days later, before giving a very moving concert.
Nearly a year later, while they are still in mourning, the relatives of the man who was also a columnist on CNews will be able to find out the circumstances of the accident. The Bureau of Investigations and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety released its official report this Friday, July 12, in which it details what probably happened. It states that Gérard Leclerc was probably the victim of “spatial disorientation” linked to “cloud cover,” as reported by AFP. His Robin DR400 aircraft then crashed in “an area of marshes bordered by tall reeds.”
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The investigation also explains that the pilot found himself with a “bad radio frequency” while he was at an altitude of 1,200 feet. He then allegedly began to descend in order to avoid “sea inlets”. “When the plane came out of the cloud layer, with a high speed, the pilot probably did not have time to react before the plane collided with the surface of the water” it is then put forward. As a reminder, the search for the three bodies lasted several hours and was particularly difficult, because the plane was submerged in an area of low visibility and subject to strong currents.
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