Grenoble, France—A military helicopter crashed on a steep granite ridge in the French Alps today, killing all four crew members on board. The aircraft was participating in a routine high-altitude mountain rescue training exercise when it suddenly lost altitude and struck the rocky terrain. The impact triggered a localized avalanche, scattering debris across a highly inaccessible glacier zone.

Specialized alpine rescue units and military helicopters scrambled from regional bases after the aircraft dropped from radar grids and its automated emergency beacon activated. Paramedics and mountain guides rappelled down to the impact site from a high-altitude transport chopper. They confirmed that the fuselage had disintegrated completely and there were no survivors among the crew.

"The weather was clear but mountain wind shear can change instantly near these peaks, creating sudden down-drafts that overwhelm rotors," a regional air police captain stated from the valley staging ground. The officer added that flight recorders are the priority for the recovery teams.

Morgue vans positioned themselves at a valley airfield late this afternoon to receive the remains of the four service members. High winds began developing as the sun set, complicating the aerial extraction of the bodies and forcing ground teams to set up a temporary high-altitude camp to guard the wreckage.

Defense ministry officials have launched an immediate technical inquiry into the mechanical history of the helicopter model involved in the accident. All non-essential training flights using this specific fleet variant have been grounded nationwide pending the preliminary findings of the air accident bureau.

The French president issued a brief public statement expressing condolences to the families of the deceased crew, who were veteran operators attached to an elite mountain aviation division. The identities of the victims are being withheld until extended family networks are formally notified.

The mountain corridor where the crash occurred is frequently used for specialized flight training due to its extreme topography and challenging atmospheric conditions. Regulatory bodies have previously reviewed safety margins for low-altitude maneuvers in this sector following a near-miss incident last winter.

Forensic teams and aviation engineers will return to the glacier at dawn to document the impact crater and begin recovering structural fragments for laboratory analysis.