Alpes-Maritimes

Executive/Corporate/Business

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Copenhagen – Stockholm – Coventry – Nice

MSN:

YOM:

1975

Flight number:

NB4133

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

3400

Captain / Total hours on type:

270.00

Copilot / Total flying hours:

2056

Copilot / Total hours on type:

113

Aircraft flight hours:

5161

Circumstances:

The twin engine airplane was completing an on-demand taxi flight from Copenhagen to Nice with intermediate stops in Stockholm and Coventry, carrying members from the Corporate of the Swedish Group Atlas Copco. On final approach to Nice-Côte d'Azur Airport, while completing a last turn, the airplane stalled and crashed into the sea about one km short of runway 05 threshold. Few debris were found floating on water while the main wreckage sank in a canyon by a depth of about 1,500 meters. All 10 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the accident was the consequence of a stall on final approach after both engines stopped quite simultaneously. Investigations were unable to determine the exact cause of the right engine failure while it is believed that the left engine stopped following the failure of the accessory drive gearbox. This resulted from the evolution of fatigue cracks observed on other engines of the same type.

Final Report:

Crash of a Learjet 25B off Antibes: 2 killed

Date & Time: Feb 18, 1972

Type of aircraft:

Learjet 25

Operator:

Registration:

SX-ASO

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Positioning

Survivors:

Site:

Europe Aéro Service - EAS

Schedule:

Athens - Nice

MSN:

25-074

YOM:

1971

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

On final approach to Nice-Côte d'Azur Airport, while on a positioning flight from Athens-Ellinikon Airport, the airplane went out of control and crashed into the sea off Antibes. Both crew members were killed.

Crash of a Douglas DC-6B in Nice

Date & Time: Oct 22, 1971

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-6

Operator:

Registration:

F-BNUZ

Flight Phase:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Flight Type:

Training

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Schedule:

Nice - Nice

MSN:

45173

YOM:

1957

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew was engaged in a local training flight at Nice-Côte d'Azur Airport. Following a series of touch-and-go manoeuvres, the four engine airplane landed hard. The crew stopped the airplane which was considered as damaged beyond repair due to structural damages.

Probable cause:

It is believed that the hard landing was the consequence of a wrong approach configuration on part of the pilot-in-command.

Crash of a Rockwell Grand Commander 680E in Nice: 2 killed

Date & Time: Feb 28, 1971

Type of aircraft:

Rockwell Grand Commander 680

Operator:

Registration:

F-BFRB

Flight Phase:

Charter/Taxi (Non Scheduled Revenue Flight)

Flight Type:

Private

Survivors:

Site:

City

MSN:

680-631-2

YOM:

1958

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Crashed in unknown circumstances on a fuel depot located in the suburb of Nice. The aircraft was destroyed and both occupants were killed.

Crash of a Beechcraft 65 Queen Air B80 off Nice

Date & Time: Oct 12, 1970 at 0010 LT

Type of aircraft:

Beechcraft 80 Queen Air

Operator:

Luftfahrt-Service

Registration:

D-ILGA

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Sud-Aviation SE-210 Caravelle

Schedule:

Nice - Stuttgart

MSN:

LD-115

YOM:

1963

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Shortly after takeoff from Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport, while climbing by night, the airplane stalled and crashed into the sea some 300 meters offshore. All eight occupants were rescued while the aircraft was lost.

Crash of a Sud-Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III off Antibes: 95 killed

Date & Time: Sep 11, 1968 at 1034 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

F-BOHB

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Ajaccio - Nice

MSN:

244

YOM:

1968

Flight number:

AF1611

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

8836

Captain / Total hours on type:

2054.00

Copilot / Total flying hours:

4293

Copilot / Total hours on type:

676

Aircraft flight hours:

1001

Aircraft flight cycles:

579

Circumstances:

Following an uneventful flight from Ajaccio, the crew started the descent to Nice-Côte d'Azur Airport when the pilot sent a brief mayday message, saying 'fire on board, request urgent landing'. Few second later, the airplane went into a dive and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea some 40 km off Antibes. Few debris were found on water surface and none of the 95 occupants survived the crash.

Probable cause:

The exact cause of the accident could not be determined with certainty. At the beginning of the investigations, the board of inquiry reported that the following assumptions were not ruled out: pilot error, fire in the cockpit, aircraft shot down by a surface-to-air missile or the rupture of the hydraulic reservoir. Nevertheless, the aircraft totally disintegrated upon impact with the water surface as it was extremely violent, at a considerable speed and with a high rate of descent. It is believed the loss of control was the consequence of a fire that erupted in the rear part of the cabin, by the right lavatory and galley. Maybe the pilot became incapacitated by fumes but this was not confirmed. About 50 years after the accident, the French government may release some classified documents regarding this tragedy, reinforcing the assumption that the aircraft may have been shut down by a surface-to-air missile fired by the French Navy which was completing local exercises in the area at that time. In 2018, the real cause of this accident remains unclear.

Final Report:

Crash of an Ilyushin II-14M in Estenc: 7 killed

Date & Time: Nov 5, 1966 at 2002 LT

Type of aircraft:

Ilyushin II-14

Operator:

Registration:

TZ-ABH

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Ferry

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Minsk – Zagreb – Marseille – Oran – Tamanrasset – Bamako

MSN:

7 34 25 01

YOM:

1957

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

15500

Copilot / Total flying hours:

1501

Aircraft flight hours:

3920

Circumstances:

The aircraft was on a ferry flight from Minsk, Belarus, to Bamako, Mali, with intermediate stops in Zagreb, Marseille, Oran and Tamanrasset. It was returning to its country following maintenance in Minsk factory. While cruising by night in poor weather conditions, the crew failed to realize that the airplane deviated from the prescribed flight path. Due to opposite traffic, the crew was instructed to make a 360° right turn but apparently did not understand this message. At an altitude of 10,000 feet, the airplane struck the slope of Mt L'Avalanche located about 1,500 meters west of Estenc, Alpes-Maritimes. The wreckage was found few hours later. The airplane was totally destroyed upon impact and all seven occupants, five crew members and two passengers (two mechanics) were killed. At the time of the accident, the airplane equipment was compliant but due to stormy weather and strong winds, a precise navigation was impossible due to the lack of a VOR receptor. On the route Genoa - Albenga - Nice, the airplane failed to follow the G7 Airway due to stormy weather and in accordance with ATC. The Russian pilot-in-command, speaking neither English nor French, could not converse directly with ground control. The co-pilot, speaking French but not Russian, could not converse directly with the captain or translate his orders from the ground. The navigator, in charge of the route in particular difficult conditions, could not correspond more with the pilot, if not by means of the radio. Only the radio could translate into Russian to the captain the indications provided in French by the ground control, which could ipso facto introduce a source of error of interpretation, and required a certain time of translation. The ICAO recommendation suggesting to the pilot-in-command the use of English or the language used by the ground station was not applied. The investigation established that the crew was unaware of wind and drift. Under the influence of a wind blowing from sector 210 to 100 km/h, the aircraft suffered a drift of about 20° towards the north, thus towards the mountain. Vertical to Nice, the airplane was already 25 kilometers north of the station and north of the G7 Airway. The diversion order did not have to be understood the first time since the crew requested repetition. The superposition of the orders of two simultaneous maneuvers, turn and descent, probably made the interpretation tricky and ambiguous. The order to make a 360° right turn, which means a circular turn, was erroneously understood as the order to take heading 360. Indeed, at least five kilometers prior to impact, the aircraft was following a straight path, in this case a heading oriented almost to magnetic north. Under the influence of one or more stormy areas northwest of Nice, the unstable indications of the radiocompas did not allow position's control and turbulences could create an additional difficulty. The aircraft approached the terrain as fast as it did to the north and the speed of the aircraft at that heading increased by about 100 km/h, representing the wind speed south-southeast. The point of impact was 2,440 meters, the level 80 towards which the aircraft was normally descending corresponding to an altitude of 2'380 meters.

Probable cause:

The commission of inquiry considers that the accident of the TZ-ABH is due to the accumulation of two main errors acting in the same direction. A navigational error due to the violence of an unknown or underestimated southern sector wind that caused a large uncorrected drift and caused the aircraft to crash. An error in the interpretation of a control order, due to a complexity of conversation exchanges. This error determined the pilot to take, from a position well north of the Airway, the 360° heading, which caused the aircraft to move further towards the terrain. This misinterpretation can itself be attributed to the fact that there is no international phraseology for the orders given by the control to the airplanes. These errors were aggravated by very bad weather conditions. These meteorological conditions: storms and very strong turbulences, could constitute aggravating causes by making difficult the work of the crew and in particular the navigation using the radiocompas medium frequency, the only radionavigation instruments the aircraft was equipped with. The fact that the aircraft was following an east-west route contrary to the flight plan forecast and that its altitude was too low given the route followed are still contributing factors.

Final Report:

Crash of a Hawker-Siddeley HS.125-1 off Nice: 2 killed

Date & Time: Jun 5, 1966 at 1712 LT

Type of aircraft:

BAe 125

Operator:

Air Affaires

Registration:

F-BKMF

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Demonstration

Survivors:

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Cannes - Nice

MSN:

25007

YOM:

1964

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

4601

Captain / Total hours on type:

324.00

Copilot / Total flying hours:

2080

Copilot / Total hours on type:

Aircraft flight hours:

798

Circumstances:

The airplane departed Cannes at 1645LT bound for Nice and the crew was supposed to perform three low pass over the Airport of Nice-Côte d'Azur during a local Airshow. The first path was performed at low height over the runway. The crew then completed a turn to the right in an attempt to make a second low pass but on the opposite direction. Doing so, the airplane climbed to an altitude of 2,000 feet when control was lost. It went into a dive, caught fire in the air and crashed in flames into the sea some 1,5 km southwest of the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed and both pilots were killed.

Probable cause:

The stresses applied to the airframe of F-BKMF during the manoeuvre carried out in order to return to the Nice runway, exceeded the design limit loads of the wing unit. A rupture was then caused to the wing unit which resulted in the leakage of a large quantity of fuel from the upper surface near the wing root. The aircraft stalled under the high load factor and the pilot was unable to regain control because of the small height margin and the damage to the aircraft structure. In spite of the considerable stick forces which have to be applied in a normally trimmed aircraft in order to carry out such a manoeuvre, the latter may have been attempted by the pilot, who was experienced, skillful and cautious, in view of the following circumstances: "tight" manoeuvre at low altitude in poor visibility; air display atmosphere (type of flying pre-supposing special training different from the training normally required for a chief pilot of the Air Affaires company); possible anxiety to avoid crossing the flight paths of several aircraft in the vicinity during the display.

Final Report:

Crash of a Dassault M.D.312M Flamant in Cannes: 5 killed

Date & Time: Oct 7, 1957 at 1207 LT

Type of aircraft:

Dassault M.D.315 Flamant

Operator:

Registration:

11.S.12

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Military

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Cannes – Paris

MSN:

310

YOM:

1952

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Shortly after takeoff from runway 17 at Cannes-Saint-Cassien Airport, while in initial climb, the twin engine aircraft encountered difficulties to gain height. It nosed down and crashed in a huge explosion about one km from the runway end. It was destroyed by a post crash fire and all five occupants were killed, among them Vice-Amiral Pierre Lancelot who was en route to Paris-Le Bourget Airport after a FAMMAC meeting in Cannes.
Crew (11S Squadron):
Cpt Vauchez, pilot,
Lt Le Mentec, pilot,
M/Sgt Georges Tisserand, mechanic,
M/Sgt Jean Boullie, radio operator.
Passenger:
Vice-Amiral Pierre Lancelot, Head of Staff of the French Navy.

Probable cause:

It was reported that the loss of control was caused by an error of the crew who did not prepare the flight according to procedures and failed to remove prior to takeoff the chock (splint) blocking the elevators while on the ground.

Crash of a Douglas C-47A-45-DL near Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée: 20 killed

Date & Time: Mar 4, 1954 at 1430 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

42-24096

Flight Phase: