According to L’Echo Republicain, a GIGN officer was killed while taking a microlight flight course at a club based near Dreux (Eure-et-Loir) on Friday morning.

Captain Jerome Favier was just 33 years old. He was married, and was the father of two kids. His wife is pregnant with a third baby.

According to L’Essor de la Gendarmerie website the victim was Denis Favier, former director general of gendarmerie.