Zarzaitine-In Amenas | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

The aircraft departed Geneva-Cointrin on an ambulance flight to Accra with an intermediate stop in Zarzaitine, carrying two doctors and two pilots. The goal of the mission was to repatriate a patient to London via Geneva after a crew change. While descending to runway 05 at Zarzaitine-In Amenas Airport by night, the crew was informed by ATC that runway 23 was in service. The crew followed a circuit and started the descent to runway 23. On final approach in low visibility (dark night), the crew failed to realize his altitude was insufficient when the aircraft struck the top of a sand dune. The undercarriage were torn off and the aircraft crash landed 3 km short of runway, bursting into flames. Both doctors escaped uninjured, the female copilot was slightly injured and the captain was seriously injured. The aircraft was totally destroyed.

Probable cause:

Controlled flight into terrain during a visual approach completed in limited visibility due to the dark night.

Crash of a Lockheed L-1649 Starliner near Ghadames: 78 killed

Date & Time: May 10, 1961 at 0112 LT

Type of aircraft:

Lockheed L-1649 Starliner

Operator:

Registration:

F-BHBM

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Desert

Schedule:

Brazzaville – Bangui – Fort Lamy – Marseille – Paris

MSN:

1027

YOM:

1957

Flight number:

AF406

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While cruising by night at an altitude of 20,000 feet vertical to the Sahara Desert, the airplane disintegrated in the air and crashed in a desert area located in the east part of Algeria, at the border with Libya. The crew was unable to send any distress call. The debris were scattered on a wide area between Ghadamès (Libya) and Zarzaïtine, Algeria. All 78 occupants were killed in the crash.
Crew:
Mr. Bouchier, pilot,
Mr. Best, copilot,
Mr. Baylion, navigator,
Mr. Guntz, radio operator,
Mr. Gambart de Lignières, mechanic,
Mr. Burgaut, mechanic,
Mrs. Chiapolino, stewardess,
Mr. Eichelberger, steward,
Mr. Pasqueron, steward.

Probable cause:

It is believed that the probable cause of the accident was an act of sabotage with the denotation of a nitrocellulose explosive device. The reasons and the authors of this act remains unknown.