World News Briefs; Air Collision Off France Kills 7, and 8 Are Lost (Published 1998)

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A twin-engine commuter plane and a Cessna collided off the western coast today. Rescuers in helicopters and speedboats pulled seven bodies from the Atlantic and gave up hope of finding the eight missing alive.

Four children, including two babies, were among the 14 people aboard the Beechcraft 1900D. Only one person was aboard the Cessna. The planes collided near Quiberon, a port in Brittany, 300 miles southwest of Paris. The Beechcraft, on a commercial flight from Lyons to Lorient, near Quiberon, belonged to Proteus, a carrier partly owned by Delta Air Lines that flies about 20 planes between 12 French cities. The Cessna belonged to a local flying club.

The Beechcraft apparently had deviated from its regular flight plan to fly over the giant cruise ship Norway, which was sailing just off Quiberon, the police said.

The collision was the worst air crash in France since 1992, when an Airbus 320 crashed near Strasbourg, killing 87 people.

Rescuers called off the search for bodies late today. It was to resume early Friday.

President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin of France extended their condolences to the families of the victims.

''In these painful hours, my thoughts are with the families who are still uncertain and those already grieving,'' Mr. Chirac said.