Paris-Le Bourget

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Paris – London

MSN:

YOM:

1945

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

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Pax on board:

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Circumstances:

During takeoff run, the four engine aircraft skidded and went out of control. It veered off runway, lost its undercarriage and came to rest in a grassy area. All 23 occupants were evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Douglas DC-3D in Moisville: 5 killed

Date & Time: Aug 11, 1951 at 0925 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-3

Operator:

Registration:

F-BAXB

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Test

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Paris - Paris

MSN:

42971

YOM:

1946

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

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Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

5302

Aircraft flight hours:

5750

Circumstances:

The aircraft took off from Paris-Le Bourget Airport at 0750LT on a flight to test a new type of air scoop. The new scoop was fitted to one engine only to allow comparison tests to be made. Five minutes later, the aircraft reached the altitude of 4,300 feet and four minutes later, at 0759LT, the starboard engine was stopped and the test commenced with a climb on the port engine with cooling gills open. At 0811LT, at an altitude of 6,980 feet, the crew commenced the second phase of the test with the port engine cooling gills in the trail position. Level off was completed at 0822LT at an altitude of 7,900 feet with the cooling gills closed. About an hour later, while flying at a relative low speed, the airplane went out of control and entered a spin, lost its empennage and eventually crashed in a field located in Moisville. The aircraft was destroyed and all five crew members were killed.
Crew:
René Gallichet, pilot,
Louis Pichard, flight engineer,
Jacques Légalité, radio navigator,
Lucien Goulay, engineer,
Paul Martin, engineer.

Probable cause:

Study of the flight conditions and circumstances of the accident to the aircraft revealed no mechanical defect which might have been the initial cause of the accident. The cause would appear to have been an abnormal flight maneuver made when the crew experienced difficulty in resuming normal flight on two engines. Overspeed, reduction of pitch or difficulty in re-starting the engine may have created a dangerous situation and caused the aircraft to stall in dissymmetrical flight, thus subjecting the airframe to stresses accompanied by buffeting which was either alternating or exceeded the design limits of the structure and caused the tail-plane to break off.

Final Report:

Crash of a Douglas C-54A-DO Skymaster in Antananarivo

Date & Time: Jul 18, 1951

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-54 Skymaster

Operator:

Registration:

F-BDRI

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Landing (descent or approach)

Schedule:

Antananarivo - Paris

MSN:

3079

YOM:

1943

Location:

Antananarivo-Arivonimamo

Antananarivo Province

Country:

Madagascar

Region:

Africa

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Crashed in unknown circumstances shortly after takeoff from Antananarivo-Arivonimamo Airport. There were no casualties but the aircraft was written off.

Crash of a Savoia-Marchetti SM.95B in Civitavecchia: 14 killed

Date & Time: Jan 17, 1951 at 1440 LT

Type of aircraft:

Savoia-Marchetti SM.95

Operator:

Registration:

I-DALO

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Curtiss Reid Flying Services

Schedule:

Paris – Rome

MSN:

YOM:

1948

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

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Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The four engine aircraft christened 'Ugolino Vivaldi' left Paris-Le Bourget Airport at 1016LT Bound for Rome-Ciampino. At 1436LT, the crew informed ground about his position at an altitude of 6,500 feet north of Civitavecchia. While descending to Ciampino, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with thunderstorm activity and turbulence. The aircraft was hit by lightning, dove into the ground and crashed near a railway road located 8 km north of Civitavecchia, about 75 km north of Ciampino Airport. A crew member and two passengers were seriously injured while 14 other occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

The probable cause of the accident was fire in flight, due to lightning striking the wing frame of the aircraft and igniting a mixture of air and petrol fumes in one of the wing panels or fuel tanks.

Final Report:

Crash of a Douglas C-54B-1-DC Skymaster on Mt Obiou: 58 killed

Date & Time: Nov 13, 1950 at 1800 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-54 Skymaster

Operator:

Registration:

CF-EDN

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Charter/Taxi (Non Scheduled Revenue Flight)

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Rome – Paris – Shannon – Keflavik – Montreal

MSN:

10518

YOM:

1945

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

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Pax on board:

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Circumstances:

The aircraft was completing a charter flight from Rome to Montreal with intermediate stops in Paris, Shannon and Keflavik, carrying a crew of seven and 51 Canadian pilgrims flying back home after a pilgrimage in Rome and having seen the Pope. While cruising by night at an altitude of 6,000 feet between Grenoble and Gap, the four engine airplane hit the east slope of the Mt Obiou (Grande Tête de l'Obiou) culminating in the attitude of 2,789 meters. SAR operations were quickly conducted but several hours were necessary for the rescuers to access the crash site that was difficult to reach. The wreckage was found in a snow covered terrain and all 58 occupants were killed.
Crew:
Orville-Alfred Olmstead, pilot,
Robert-James Henderson, copilot,
Henry-Thomas Warkentin, navigator,
Arthur Bethwell, navigator,
Dennis-Norman Nichols, radio operator,
Roderick-Malcolm McIsaac, purser,
Helen-Marjory Johnston, stewardess.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the aircraft deviated from the prescribed flight path by 80 km too the east at the time of the accident, due to a strong wind blowing from the west. It was reported that the crew apparently realized his wrong position and tried to correct his route but too late to avoid the collision with the ground.

Crash of a Vickers 610 Viking 1B in London-Heathrow: 28 killed

Date & Time: Oct 31, 1950 at 1954 LT

Type of aircraft:

Vickers Viking

Operator:

Registration:

G-AHPN

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Landing (descent or approach)

Schedule:

Paris – Northolt

MSN:

155

YOM:

1947

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

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Circumstances:

The aircraft left Paris-Le Bourget Airport at 1839LT bound for Northolt. While descending to Northolt at an altitude of 4,500 feet, the crew was informed by ATC that fog had reduced the visibility at Northolt to 50 yards. On receiving this information, the pilot announced that he would attempt to land at London-Heathrow. Although visibility at Heathrow was 40 yards only, it had the facilities for a Ground Controlled Approach (GCA). The pilot told ATC that if he could not safely land at London Airport, he would divert to Blackbushe Airport in Hampshire or Manston Airport in Kent. The aircraft carried out what appeared to be a normal GCA, reaching the decision height of 140 feet at about 400 yards short of runway threshold. As the pilot was unable to locate the runway, he decided to go around, increased power and raised the landing gear. Few seconds later, the aircraft struck the runway surface and skidded for about 140 feet before regaining the air. With both propellers damaged by the initial contact with the ground, it stalled and crashed approximately 3,000 feet past the runway threshold. The starboard wing being torn off and the aircraft bursting into flames as it came to rest next to a store of drain-pipes. The thick fog hindered rescue attempts and it took the fire and rescue teams 16 to 17 minutes to find the crashed aircraft. Of the 30 people on board there were only two survivors, a stewardess and a passenger, both had been seated near the tail.

Probable cause:

Although it cannot be established with certainty, the probable explanation of the known facts may be that the captain deliberately came down below break-off point and then at 100 feet or less came into fog which abruptly reduced the visibility of the runway lights and that then and not till then he started overshoot procedure with fatal results.

Final Report:

Crash of an Avro 652 Anson in Mons

Date & Time: Apr 26, 1950

Type of aircraft:

Avro 652 Anson

Operator:

Registration:

G-AIXW

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

London – Paris – Brussels

YOM:

1946

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

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Pax on board:

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Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew was performing a mail flight from London to Brussels with an intermediate stop in Paris, carrying a load of newspapers. En route, he was forced to make an emergency landing in Mons for undetermined reason. The twin engine aircraft was damaged beyond repair and both occupants were injured.

Crash of an Avro 652 Anson I in Dammartin-en-Goële

Date & Time: Feb 10, 1950

Type of aircraft:

Avro 652 Anson

Operator:

Registration:

G-AJBA

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors: