Date & Time:
Oct 18, 1949 at 1725 LT
Type of aircraft:
SNCASE SE.200
Operator:
Registration:
F-BAIY
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Test
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Marseille - Marseille
MSN:
3
YOM:
2
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew left Marseille-Marignane to perform a test mission on this third example. After a 4 hours and 20 minutes flight, the crew returned to his base. On landing on the Étang de Berre, the seaplane bounced four times, took off and flew less than 20 meters over hangars. At 1725LT, the crew made a second attempt to land when the aircraft hit the water surface, bounced three times and plunged into the water, hit the bottom and eventually came to rest. All eight crew members were unhurt but the aircraft was severely damaged and later considered as a complete write off.
Crew:
Jean Reviron, pilot,
Jean Sarrail, pilot 6.
Source: Jean-Louis Bléneau
Photos: http://richard.ferriere.free.fr/bleneau/se200_2/se200_2.pdf
Crew:
Jean Reviron, pilot,
Jean Sarrail, pilot 6.
Source: Jean-Louis Bléneau
Photos: http://richard.ferriere.free.fr/bleneau/se200_2/se200_2.pdf
Probable cause:
It was determined that the observer misjudged the distance between the aircraft and the water surface on final approach and mistakenly push the throttles twice. This led the seaplane to plunge into the water. This misjudgment on part of the observer was caused by the fact that the Étang de Berre was very calm at the time of the accident and the water surface was glassy.
