Mont-de-Marsan

At 1000LT on November 24, the airplane departed Hyères-Le Palyvestre NAS near Toulon on a flight to Mont-de-Marsan Airbase, carrying 28 passengers and a crew of four. The passengers were respectively 23 Marines from the Naval School of Saint-Mandrier, four officers and the Director of the Naval School's house. All four crew members were attached to the Groupe 3/64 Bigorre at Évreux AFB. All of them were invited at Mont-de-Marsan Airbase to assist to the final of a radiophonic tournament they lost on semi-final. At 0100LT on November 25, the airplane departed Mont-de-Marsan Airfield bound to the east. En route, the crew encountered very bad weather conditions with fog and rain falls, reducing the visibility to zero. In such conditions, the crew failed to realize his altitude was too low when the airplane passed over the hamlet of La Sicarderie at a height of 150 meters. Less than 30 seconds later, the airplane struck trees and crashed in flames in a wooded area located in the Somail Mountain Range, about 40 km northwest of Béziers. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 32 occupants were killed.
Crew (Groupe 3/64 Bigorre from Évreux AFB):
Cpt Philippe Le Goff,
Sgt/C Robert Sonier,
Sgt/C Jean-Claude Bezanger,
Sgt/C Serge Luckel.
Passengers (accompanist officers):
Cpt Raymond Faucher,
Mrs Elisabeth Boissat, Director of the GEM House,
Ens/V Francis Coinsin,
Asp Louis Rimbaud,
M/Pr Luc Kuntz.
Passengers (Marines members of the Bagad du Groupe d’Écoles de Mécaniciens (GEM) de Saint-Mandrier):
M/Mec Pierre Nadal,
2nd M/Mec Joël Quentel,
2nd M/Mec Alain Bouydron,
QM/Mec Philippe Janin,
QM/Mec Philippe Orliac,
QM/Mec Louis Tanguy,
QM/Mec Alain Ducasse,
M/Mec Patrick Mira,
M/Mec François Chotard,
M/Mec Didier Le Goff,
M/Mec Jean-Marie Rambaud,
M/Mec Christian Dreau,
M/Mec Claude Lecoustaouec,
M/Mec Joël Jaffres,
M/Mec Guy Le Doussal,
M/Eq Jean-Marc Mule,
Mat Ben Ah-Mi,
App/Mec Alain Montas,
App/Mec Pascal Le Gall,
App/Mec Dominique Le Goff,
APP/Mec Eric Descarcin,
App/Mec Didier Terrec,
App/Mec Alain Scouarnec.

Shortly after takeoff from Mont-de-Marsan AFB (BA 118), the twin engine aircraft crashed and burst into flames. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
Col Jacques Couilleau,
Sgt Michel Blanc,
Sgt Bernard Ruy.

The aircraft was performing a flight from Algiers to Mont-de-Marsan Airbase, carrying nine crew members from the Center of Experimentation at Mont-de-Marsan and two SNECMA employees. While cruising by night over the Pyrénées Mountains, the airplane hit the south slope of the Costabonne Peak, on the Spanish territory. The wreckage was found by Spanish rescuers a week later, on January 5, 1954, about 5 km northeast of Setcases. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and all 11 occupants were killed.
Crew:
Cdt André Auffret,
Cpt Roger Kerrien,
Cpt Jean Tassa,
Lt André Jean Bordes,
Lt André Delsahut,
Adj André Valy,
Sgt Pierre Castera,
Sgt Henri Latreille,
Sgt Louis Pasquinelli.
Passengers:
Georges Le Minor,
Jean Savean.

The crew (two engineers and two pilots) were performing a local test flight in Mont-de-Marsan Airbase on behalf of the Centre d’Expériences Aériennes Militaires (CEAM). After completing several circuits, the crew was returning to the airport when he encountered technical problems with the nose gear that would not come down. The pilot continued the approach and the aircraft eventually landed on its nose, slid for several yards and came to rest. All four crew members were unhurt but the aircraft was considered as damaged beyond repair. It accumulated 51 hours and 35 minutes of flight. Next tests were transferred on the Dassault M.D.312 Flamant registered 140.

The pilot departed Mont-de-Marsan on a local solo training flight. On final approach, the airplane collided with a North American 57 that was trying to land on the same runway. The propeller of the Simoun impacted the horizontal stabilizer of the NA 57, overturned and crashed. The pilot was injured and the aircraft was destroyed.
Crew:
S/Lt Panthene, pilot.