Horrified tourists and onlookers screamed in panic as a plane crashed into the sea during a popular air show in France.

The terrifying incident happened at around 5pm on August 16, while the pilot's body was found a short while later, according to local news website Ici.

The air show was celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Landing of Provence, and featured aircrafts from the Patrouille de France, the precision aerobatics demonstration unit of the French Air and Space Force.

Footage shared on social media shows the harrowing moment the aircraft crashes at the event near Saint Tropez in southern France.

The show has been stopped after the "tragic circumstances, officials said.

Officials of the Prefect du Var, the local authority responsible for the Var region, added: "The body of the pilot has been recovered."

The French Air Force has said that the aircraft involved is not from the Partrouille de France aerobatics team, but instead involved a Fouga Magister belonging to an association.

They added: "The pilots and the entire Air Force community would like to express their solidarity at this difficult time."

A spokesperson for the district of Var added:: "Rescue operations to find the pilot are currently being coordinated by the Mediterranean Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Centre (CROSS).

"Resources from the Var Departmental Fire and Rescue Service and the Maritime Gendarmerie are deployed in the area."

Hundreds of spectators gathered to watch the airshow, held to mark 80 years since the Provence Landings – when Allied forces invaded the region in 1944.

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