Ambérieu-en-Bugey

Shortly after takeoff from Ambérieu-en-Bugey Airfield, while climbing, the airplane went out of control and crashed. The aircraft was destroyed and all six occupants were killed.
Crew:
Cpt Bernard Germain, pilot.
Passengers:
AdjC Jean-Claude Canet,
Maj André Duquesnoy,
Maj Henri Sothier,
AdjC Joseph Buffet,
AdjC Bernard Rovoyard.

The crew was perform a short flight from Dole to Ambérieu-en-Bugey Airfield, on behalf of the 316th Squadron. While cruising in low visibility due to foggy conditions, the aircraft hit a hill near the locality of Valresson. The aircraft was destroyed and all six crew members were killed.

The crew already completed two prior similar flights during the day, carrying staff from Ambérieu-en-Bugey to Istres AFB. En route, while flying along the Rhône River at an altitude of some 500 feet, the right engine failed. The captain decided to reduce his altitude in an attempt to make an emergency landing on the river. At low height, the aircraft hit a ferry cable and crashed into the river. In fifteen minutes, all seven occupants were able to leave the cabin and while six of them could swim to the shore, a passenger drowned. The aircraft drifted on several yards before coming to rest in Montfaucon.
Crew:
1st Lt Jack V. Devette, pilot,
2nd Lt Clifton E. Smith, copilot,
T/Sgt Raymond F. Foy, mechanic,
S/Sgt Bonnell Chambers Birkhead Jr., radio operator.
Passengers:
Milton Kushner,
Kenneth N. Spry,
Paul R. Gwaltney. †

The aircraft left RAF Downham Market at 2019LT on August 16 on a bombing mission to Torino, Italy. While flying over the east part of France at an altitude of 14,000 feet, the aircraft was shot down by the pilot of a German fighter and crashed in a field in Saint German en Bugey. A crew member was taken PoW, another evaded while five others were killed.
Crew (218th Squadron):
W/O S. F. Chudzik, †
Sgt D. Deans, †
Sgt C. E. Taylor, †
Sgt D. P. J. Rawlings, †
Sgt J. D. Bates, †
Sgt J. L. Paterson,
Sgt W. L. McKinnon.

On behalf of the Section Civile de Liaisons Aériennes Métropolitaines (SCLAM), the crew was performing a flight from Marseille-Marignane Airport to the airbase of Ambérieu-en-Bugey. While descending in low visibility, the twin engine airplane impacted the slope of a mountain located near Maupertuis, in the region of Panossas. All four occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the visibility was poor due to low clouds.
Crew (both from Air France):
Maurice Pichon, pilot,
Etienne Cazenave, radio navigator.
Passengers:
Cdt Fesneau,
Cpt Falcon de Longevialle.

The crew was performing an engine test flight on behalf of battalion 107 based at Ambérieu-en-Bugey Airbase. Ten minutes after takeoff from Ambérieu, while flying at a height of about 100 metres facing the sun, the aircraft hit power cables and crashed in a potato field located near the hamlet of La Route, near Jujurieux. Both crew members were killed.
Crew:
S/Lt Adrien Charles Bourbon, pilot,
Adj André Martin, mechanic.