Air France

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Paris – Lisbon – Santa Maria – New York

MSN:

2546

YOM:

1947

Flight number:

AF009

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

6705

Captain / Total hours on type:

1513.00

Copilot / Total flying hours:

3010

Copilot / Total hours on type:

1582

Aircraft flight hours:

3394

Circumstances:

About 150 nm from his destination, the crew informed ground about the ETA in Santa Maria-Vila do Porto Airport at 0245LT. Few minutes later, the captain changed this ETA to 0255LT. During the final approach completed by night but in good weather conditions, while at an altitude of 3,000 feet, the captain confirmed to ATC that he had the runway in sight and was approaching in VFR mode. Shortly later, the aircraft hit the slope of Mt Redondo (about 900 meters high) located few km from the airport. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all 48 occupants were killed. Among them were the French boxer Marcel Cerdan, the French violinist Ginette Neveu and her brother Jean Neveu, pianist, and Kay Kamen, artistic director by Walt Disney Studios.
Crew:
Jean de la Noue, pilot,
Charles Wolfer, copilot,
Camille Fidency, copilot,
André Villet, mechanic,
Marcel Sarrazin, mechanic,
Roger Pierre, radio operator,
Paul Giraud, radio operator,
Jean Salvatori, navigator,
Raymond Redon, steward,
Albert Brucker, steward,
Suzanne Ruig, stewardess.

Probable cause:

Without rejecting with an absolute certainty the possibility of a misinterpretation, the Commission of Inquiry believes that the inaccurate navigation of the aircraft is due to a sudden failure, at the end of the flight and unsuspected by the crew, of some elements from the receiving direction finding system, abnormal radio propagation operation or become defective. This cause combined with overconfidence due to good weather conditions in the arrival zone, conditions which have not prompted the captain to check his radio point as it would have done under unfavorable weather conditions. A visual confusion in darkness finally resulted.
Final report:
http://aviatechno.net/constellation/rapport_f-bazn.php

Crash of a Douglas C-54A-15-DC Skymaster in Karachi

Date & Time: Oct 20, 1949

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-54 Skymaster

Operator:

Registration:

F-BBDS

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Saigon – Karachi – Bahrain – Paris

MSN:

10423

YOM:

1944

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

On final approach to Karachi, the four engine aircraft was too low, hit the ground and crash landed in a sandy area located two km short of runway threshold. All occupants escaped unhurt while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Sud-Est SE.161 Languedoc in Nice

Date & Time: Apr 9, 1949

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

F-BATU

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Paris – Nice

MSN:

YOM:

1945

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

After touchdown, the four engine aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran and eventually collided with a concrete wall. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair while all 35 occupants were uninjured.

Crash of a Sud-Est SE.161 Languedoc in Toulouse: 1 killed

Date & Time: Nov 23, 1948

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

F-BATM

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Test

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Toulouse - Montauban

MSN:

YOM:

1945

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew was engaged in a test flight from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport to Montauban. At liftoff, while in initial climb, the four engine aircraft went out of control and crashed in flames. All five occupants were able to evacuate the cabin but the test pilot Emmanuel Arin fell on a engine on fire and died from his injuries two days later.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the ailerons control cables were connected in reverse.

Crash of a Sud-Est SE.161 Languedoc in Paris-Le Bourget

Date & Time: Aug 29, 1948

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

F-BATO

Survivors:

Site:

MSN:

YOM:

1948

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The four engine aircraft suffered an accident in Paris-Le Bourget Airport. There were no casualties.

Crash of a Latécoère 631 into the Atlantic Ocean: 52 killed

Date & Time: Aug 1, 1948 at 2355 LT

Type of aircraft:

Latécoère 631

Operator:

Registration:

F-BDRC

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Fort-de-France – Port-Etienne – Paris

MSN:

YOM:

1947

Flight number:

AF072

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

185

Circumstances:

The crew was performing a flight from Fort-de-France, Martinique, to Paris, with an intermediate stop in Port-Etienne, Mauritania. While cruising by night over the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,920 km from Port-Etienne (now Nouadhibou), the aircraft crashed into the ocean in unknown circumstances at 2355LT. No message was sent by the crew. SAR operations were jointly conducted by several countries and few debris were found by the crew of USS Campbell three days later, on August 4. Unfortunately, none of the 52 occupants survived the crash of this six-engine aircraft christened 'Henri Guillaumet'.
Crew:
Corentin Kersual, pilot,
Jean Goutay, copilot,
Henri Gloux, radio navigator,
Gontran Ronat, radio navigator,
Henri Cabanes, navigator,
Gaston Le Morvan, mechanic,
Jean Coustaline, mechanic,
Alfred Jaggi, mechanic,
Mr. Arbelot, mechanic,
Mr. Sgourdeos, steward,
Mr. Meunier, steward.

Probable cause:

Due to lack of concrete evidence, it was not possible to determine the exact cause of this tragedy. However, experts did not exclude the hypothesis of a serious technical issue sustained during flight.

Crash of a Douglas DC-4-1009 in Paris-Orly

Date & Time: Jul 12, 1948

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-4

Operator:

Registration:

F-BBDL

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

MSN:

42989

YOM:

1946

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

For unknown reason, the four engine aircraft crash landed and came to rest in flames. All 12 occupants were rescued while the aircraft was destroyed by fire.

Crash of a Sud-Est SE.161 Languedoc in Coulommiers

Date & Time: Jun 14, 1948

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

F-BATG

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

MSN:

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Crashed in unknown circumstances in Coulommiers. There were no casualties.

Crash of a Douglas DC-4-1009 in Kano: 1 killed

Date & Time: Apr 10, 1948 at 0833 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-4

Operator:

Registration:

F-BBDC

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Ferry

Survivors:

Site: