Occurrence | |
---|---|
Date | December 3, 1969 |
Summary | Unknown [1] [2] |
Site | Near Caracas, Venezuela |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Boeing 707-328B |
Aircraft name | Chateau de Kerjean |
Operator | Air France |
Registration | F-BHSZ |
Flight origin | Caracas International Airport |
Destination | Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport |
Passengers | 51 |
Crew | 11 |
Fatalities | 62 |
Survivors | 0 |
Air France Flight 212 was a passenger flight operated by a Boeing 707, registration F-BHSZ, that crashed on 3 December 1969. [3] [4] None of the 62 people on board survived. [5]
On 3 December 1969, Flight 212, which originated from Santiago International Airport, was flying to Paris, France via Lima, Peru; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Bogota, Colombia; Caracas, Venezuela; Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe; and Lisbon, Portugal. [3] The aircraft took off on the Caracas – Pointe-à-Pitre leg from Caracas airport's runway 08R at 19:02 local time (23:02 UTC). One minute after takeoff from Caracas, at approximately 3,000 feet (910 m), [note 1] the aircraft plunged into the sea and sank in 160 feet of water. [3] [4]
The causes of the disaster remain unknown because the French Bureau of Investigations et Accidents (BEA) did not publish an investigation report. Documents relating to the BEA investigation are classified in the French national archives as 19880360/49 and 19880360/50, and will not be released until 2029, sixty years after the accident. However, in July 2017, several pilot unions (ALTER, SNGAF, SNOMAC, SNPL Air France ALPA, SNPNC, SPAF, UNAC, PNC UNSA) requested the files be declassified early. [6] [1]
Various conspiracy theories about the crash have arisen: maneuvers to avoid colliding with a nearby Avro 748 followed by a loss of control, bombing, spatial disorientation, in-flight-fire, engine failure, and/or fuel contamination. Documents classified "defense secret" from the BEA and the Paris Police Prefecture would investigate the probability of a bomb-related explosion on board the aircraft. [1] [2] If any of these were confirmed, this accident would be the first act of terrorism against French civilian aeronautics, and one of the first airliner attacks in the world.[ citation needed ].
All 62 people on board were killed, including: [5]
On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde passenger jet on an international charter flight from Paris to New York, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground. It was the only fatal Concorde accident during its 27-year operational history.
Flash Airlines Flight 604 was a charter flight from Sharm El Sheikh International Airport in Egypt to Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris, France, with a stop-over at Cairo International Airport, provided by Egyptian private charter company Flash Airlines. On 3 January 2004, the Boeing 737-300 that was operating the route crashed into the Red Sea shortly after takeoff from Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, killing all 135 passengers, most of whom were French tourists, and all thirteen crew members. The findings of the crash investigation were controversial, with accident investigators from the different countries involved unable to agree on the cause of the accident.
Paris–Le Bourget Airport is an airport located within portions of the communes of Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, Dugny and Gonesse, 6 NM north-northeast of Paris, France.
Cameroon Airlines was an airline from Cameroon, serving as flag carrier of the country. Based in Douala, it operated scheduled services within Africa, as well as to Europe and the Middle East out of its hub at Douala International Airport, with a second network focus on Yaoundé Nsimalen International Airport. The company was 96.43 percent state-owned, with the remaining shares having been held by Air France. It ceased operations in March 2008; its role as Cameroon's flag carrier was taken over by Camair-Co. The company slogan was French: Pour mieux vous servir, To serve you better.
N'Djamena International Airport serves N'Djamena, the capital city of Chad. It is the country's only international airport. The airport is dual use, with civilian and military installations on opposite sides of the single runway.
AOM French Airlines, previously named Air Outre-Mer, was the second-largest airline in France that operated from 1988 until 2001. Its head office was in Building 363 at Orly Airport, Paray-Vieille-Poste.
On December 7, 1995, a chartered twin-turboprop Beechcraft 1900D commuter aircraft registered as F-OHRK and owned and operated by Air Saint Martin crashed near Belle-Anse, Haiti. The flight was en route from Cayenne, French Guiana and Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and had been chartered by the Government of France to return illegal immigrants to Haiti from French territory. There were no survivors among its 18 passengers and 2 crew members.
Gao International Airport, also known as Korogoussou Airport, is an airport in Gao, Mali. The airport's runway crosses through the prime meridian.
Air France Flight 447 (AF447/AFR447) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France. On 1 June 2009, inconsistent airspeed indications and miscommunication led to the pilots inadvertently stalling the Airbus A330. They failed to recover the plane from the stall, and the plane crashed into the mid-Atlantic Ocean at 02:14 UTC, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board.
Yemenia Flight 626 was a flight on an Airbus A310-324 twin-engine jet airliner operated by Yemenia that was flying a scheduled international service, from Sana'a in Yemen to Moroni in Comoros, when it crashed on 30 June 2009 at around 1:50 am local time while on approach to Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport, killing all but one of the 153 passengers and crew on board. The sole survivor, 12-year-old girl Bahia Bakari, was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for thirteen hours. Bakari was discharged from the hospital on 23 July 2009.
Air France Flight 117 was a multi-leg international scheduled flight from Paris-Orly Airport via Lisbon, the Azores, Guadeloupe and Peru to Santiago, Chile, which crashed on 22 June 1962.
Air France has been in operation since 1933. Its aircraft have been involved in a number of major accidents and incidents. The deadliest accident of the airline occurred on June 1, 2009, when Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-203, flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean with 228 fatalities. A selected list of the most noteworthy of these events is given below.
Pan Am Flight 217 was a Boeing 707 that crashed near Caracas, Venezuela while on a flight from New York City, USA on December 12, 1968. Though pilot error was to blame, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded the probable cause was undetermined. There were no survivors.
The 1950 Heathrow BEA Vickers Viking crash occurred on 31 October 1950 when a Vickers Viking operated by British European Airways (BEA) crashed at London Airport in heavy fog. The aircraft was on a scheduled flight between Paris and London's Northolt airport and 28 of the 30 passengers and crew on board were killed.
Air France Flight 212 was a scheduled passenger flight from Santiago, Chile to Paris with scheduled stops at Lima, Quito, Bogotá, Caracas, Pointe-à-Pitre, Vila do Porto, and Lisbon. On March 6, 1968, the Boeing 707 operating the flight, named "Chateau de Lavoute Polignac", crashed while approaching Le Raizet Airport in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, killing all 63 occupants of the plane.
Air Caraïbes Flight 1501 (TX1501/FWI1501) was a scheduled international passenger flight, flying from Saint Martin Airport in the Dutch overseas territory of Sint Maarten to Saint Barthélemy Airport which was in the French overseas region of Guadeloupe at that time. The flight was operated by Air Caraïbes, a Caribbean regional airline, using a de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter. On 24 March 2001, during an approach to Saint Barthélemy Airport, the DHC-6 Twin Otter banked steeply to the left and crashed into a house, killing all 19 passengers and crew on board. One person on the ground was also killed in the explosions that followed.
On 17 March 1977, a British Airtours Boeing 707 being used for pilot training crashed and caught fire during its take-off roll at Glasgow Prestwick Airport. All four crew members on board survived.
Trans-Air Service Flight 671 was a cargo flight from Luxembourg Airport to Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, Nigeria. While flying over France on March 31, 1992, the Boeing 707 operating the flight experienced an in-flight separation of two engines on its right wing. Despite the damage to the aircraft, the pilots were able to perform an emergency landing at Istres-Le Tubé Air Base in Istres, France. All five occupants of the aircraft survived; however, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair due to a fire on the right wing.