Nord 262

Suffered an accident while landing at Dole-Tavaux Airport. There were no injuries while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew departed Lyon-Bron Airport that day on a flight to Tours to prepare for a demonstration mission, taking part to an airshow in Craon. After a brief en-route stop at Tours-Saint Symphorien Airport, the crew continued to Craon, completed a low pass then decided to return to Lyon-Bron. Few minutes later, both engines stopped due to fuel exhaustion. The captain reduced his altitude and attempted an emergency landing in an open field. While all five occupants evacuated safely, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew was completing a mail flight from Paris to Lannion with an intermediate stop at Dinard Airport. On final approach, the crew encountered foggy conditions and was unable to locate the runway. The captain decided to initiate a go-around after it passed over the runway threshold at a height of 200 feet. The airplane flew over the entire runway when the left wing struck the tops of pine trees and was partially torn off (2 meters). Control was lost and the airplane crashed 3,3 km west of the airport, between the villages of Pleumeur-Bodou and Trébeurden. The wreckage was found the next morning. A crew member was seriously injured while two other occupants were killed. It is believed that the accident occurred after the pilot-in-command suffered a spatial disorientation.

The airplane departed Vélizy-Villacoublay Air Base on a special flight to Orange AFB, carrying six officers, seven engineers of the CEA - Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (Central commission for nuclear energy) and a crew of eight who were scheduled to conduct an inspection of the nuclear center of Pierrelatte. The pilot was cleared by Marseille ATC to descent to 8,000 feet until Montélimar then to 5,000 feet to Orange. For unknown reason, the crew started the descent prematurely and in marginal weather conditions, the airplane stuck the slope of Mt Suc de Pradou (1,342 meters high) located about 3 km southeast of Mézilhac. The wreckage was found about 200 meters below the summit and all 21 occupants have been killed.
Crew:
Lt Pierre Chaintreau,
Adj/C Jean-Michel Reig,
Adj/C Jacques Deville,
Adj Alain Gaudy,
Sgt/C Claude Touzeau,
Sgt/C Jean-Pierre Boutin,
Off Alain Giblan,
Sdt Bertrand Courbier.
Passengers:
Amiral Robert Landrin,
Gen Édouard Billion,
Gen Jean-Marc Pineau,
Col Charles Birckel,
Col Alain Rolland de Chambaudoin d’Erceville,
Cpt André Bouteiller,
Jean Gaume, engineer,
Paul Johann, engineer,
Jean Labussière, engineer,
Hubert Lefèbvre de Laboulaye, engineer,
Jacques Mabile, engineer,
François Ronteix, engineer,
Georges Tirole, engineer.

The airplane departed Algiers Airport late in the evening on a charter flight to Mahón, Balearic Islands, Spain, carrying three crew members and 28 members of the Algerian soccer team Air Liquide (AGAL). While cruising by night at his assigned altitude, the pilot declared an emergency at 2309LT and reported his position 65 nautical miles north of Algiers. Radar and radio contact were lost and the airplane crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. SAR operations were jointly conducted by Spanish, Algerian and French authorities but were eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 31 occupants was found. It was reported that all passengers were players, members of staff and family members of the Air Liquide soccer team who were flying to Mahón to take part to a New Year's soccer tournament.