Benghazi-Benina | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

On approach to Heliopolis, the airplane suffered an engine failure. The crew attempted an emergency landing when the airplane crashed. There were no casualties but two crew members were seriously injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Probable cause:

Engine failure on approach.

Crash of a CRDA CANT Z.506 Airone off Benghazi: 9 killed

Date & Time: Sep 24, 1936

Type of aircraft:

CRDA CANT Z.506 Airone

Operator:

Registration:

I-RODI

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Addis Ababa – Benghazi – Rome

MSN:

301

YOM:

1936

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Circumstances:

On approach to Benghazi, one of the three engines exploded. The pilot decided to hurry the descent when the float plane hit the mast of a boat and crashed in a huge explosion into the bay off Benghazi. The radio navigator was seriously injured and all nine others occupants were killed. The airplane was en route to Rome with the mail from the Italian troops based in Ethiopia.

Probable cause:

Engine explosion on approach.

Crash of Caudron C.630 Simoun near Wadi El Natrun

Date & Time: Dec 29, 1935 at 0400 LT

Type of aircraft:

Caudron C.630/C.635 Simoun

Operator:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Registration:

F-ANRY

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Paris – Tunis – Benghazi – Cairo – Saigon

MSN:

7042

YOM:

1935

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The Caudron C.630 Simoun with s/n 7042 was ordered in July 1935, built and delivered to its owner Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in September 1935. After several trips to Africa, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry decided at the end of December to fly from Paris to Saigon to establish a new record. After 19 hours and 38 minutes of flight, while cruising at night between Benghazi and Cairo, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with heavy rain falls. The crew decided first to climb to 2,500 metres but cumulus were still there so he reduced his altitude to 1,000 metres then 400 metres and lower until the aircraft struck the top of a sandy plateau. Upon touchdown, the airplane lost its undercarriage and slid for few dozen metres before coming to rest in a desert area located some 20 km north of Wadi El Natrun. Both occupants were uninjured but walked away for four days before being rescued by locals. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Nieuport-Delage NiD-641 off Sirte: 3 killed

Date & Time: Dec 14, 1929

Type of aircraft:

Nieuport-Delage NiD-641

Operator:

Registration:

F-AJDA

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Postal (mail)

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Paris – Marseille – Algiers – Tunis – Tripoli – Benghazi – Cairo – Basra – Agra – Allahabad – Calcutta – Akyab – Yangon – Saigon

MSN:

YOM:

1929

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Circumstances:

The aircraft departed Paris-Le Bourget on a mail flight to Saigon, carrying three crew members. Intermediate stops were scheduled in Marseille, Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Benghazi, Cairo, Basra, Agra, Allahabad, Calcutta, Akyab and Yangon. En route from Tripoli to Benghazi, the aircraft crashed in the Mediterranean Sea in unknown circumstances. As the airplane failed to arrive in Benghazi, SAR operations were initiated and on December 23, the crew of an Italian ship found the wreckage and the dead bodied on a beach located near Sirte.
Crew:
Edmond Lasalle, pilot,
Mr. Reybard, radio navigator,
Mr. Faltot, engineer.