Three French defence ministry staff, two contractors die in Malta plane crash

Three French Defence Ministry officials and two private contractors died when their plane on a surveillance mission over the Mediterranean crashed at an airport in Malta during take-off, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

The ministry will conduct an investigation on what caused the crash on Monday morning, Le Drian said in a statement. 

The twin-prop Fairchild Metroliner crashed near the runway of the island's main airport at about 7:20 a.m. (0520 GMT), sending smoke billowing into the sky, closing Malta International Airport for several hours in what was the country's worst peacetime air incident.

The flight was part of a customs operation the French have been conducting for the last five months, tracking human trafficking and drugs smuggling, the Maltese government said. Airport officials said the plane had been heading for Misrata in Libya.