Date & Time:
Oct 28, 1949 at 0252 LT
Type of aircraft:
Lockheed L-749 Constellation
Operator:
Registration:
F-BAZN
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
No
Site:
Mountains
Schedule:
Paris – Lisbon – Santa Maria – New York
MSN:
2546
YOM:
1947
Flight number:
AF009
Country:
Portugal
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
11
Crew fatalities:
11
Pax on board:
37
Pax fatalities:
37
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
48
Captain / Total hours on type:
1513
Copilot / Total hours on type:
1582
Aircraft flight hours:
3394
Circumstances:
About 150 nm from his destination, the crew informed ground about the ETA in Santa Maria-Vila do Porto Airport at 0245LT. Few minutes later, the captain changed this ETA to 0255LT. During the final approach completed by night but in good weather conditions, while at an altitude of 3,000 feet, the captain confirmed to ATC that he had the runway in sight and was approaching in VFR mode. Shortly later, the aircraft hit the slope of Mt Redondo (about 900 meters high) located few km from the airport. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all 48 occupants were killed. Among them were the French boxer Marcel Cerdan, the French violinist Ginette Neveu and her brother Jean Neveu, pianist, and Kay Kamen, artistic director by Walt Disney Studios.
Crew:
Jean de la Noue, pilot,
Charles Wolfer, copilot,
Camille Fidency, copilot,
André Villet, mechanic,
Marcel Sarrazin, mechanic,
Roger Pierre, radio operator,
Paul Giraud, radio operator,
Jean Salvatori, navigator,
Raymond Redon, steward,
Albert Brucker, steward,
Suzanne Ruig, stewardess.
Crew:
Jean de la Noue, pilot,
Charles Wolfer, copilot,
Camille Fidency, copilot,
André Villet, mechanic,
Marcel Sarrazin, mechanic,
Roger Pierre, radio operator,
Paul Giraud, radio operator,
Jean Salvatori, navigator,
Raymond Redon, steward,
Albert Brucker, steward,
Suzanne Ruig, stewardess.
Probable cause:
Without rejecting with an absolute certainty the possibility of a misinterpretation, the Commission of Inquiry believes that the inaccurate navigation of the aircraft is due to a sudden failure, at the end of the flight and unsuspected by the crew, of some elements from the receiving direction finding system, abnormal radio propagation operation or become defective. This cause combined with overconfidence due to good weather conditions in the arrival zone, conditions which have not prompted the captain to check his radio point as it would have done under unfavorable weather conditions. A visual confusion in darkness finally resulted.
Final report:
http://aviatechno.net/constellation/rapport_f-bazn.php
Final report:
http://aviatechno.net/constellation/rapport_f-bazn.php
