Tanezrouft Desert

The aircraft left Aoulef Airfield at 0245LT bound for Bidon V. During the next 15 to 30 minutes, the crew maintained few radio contacts with the ground and eventually, the contact was lost around 0300LT. SAR operations were conducted and the crew of a GLAM Douglas DC-4 found the wreckage about 30 hours later, around 1815LT some 50 km west of the trail leading from Reggan to Bidon V. The debris were scattered on more than 2 km about 106 km southwest of Aoulef and all 26 occupants have been killed. Most of the passengers were locals from Bamako flying back home for vacations after studying in France. It is believed that an explosion occurred in the left wing in flight, most probably in the fuel tank, causing the left wing to detach. In such conditions, the aircraft was uncontrollable. The exact cause of the detonation remains unknown.
Crew:
Cpt Le Monigou 3.

The pilot departed London on a solo flight to South Africa with several en route stops. In the evening, he departed Reggane on a leg to Gao, Mali. About an hour into the flight, while cruising at night, the engine failed. The pilot attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft crashed some 275 km south of Reggane, in the Tanezrouft Desert. As the airplane failed to arrive in Gao, SAR operations were initiated but eventually suspended as no trace of the airplane nor the pilot was found. On February 10, 1962, a French military patrol found the wreckage that and the dead body of the pilot that was mummified. In 1975, the wreckage was transferred to the Queensland Museum in Brisbane. It was later determined that the pilot survived the accident but died 8 days later of hunger and thirst.