Air France Flight 406

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Air France Flight 406
Lockheed L-1649 Constellation TWA.jpg
A TWA Starliner similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date10 May 1961
SummaryBombing in flight
Site Sahara Desert
Aircraft
Aircraft type Lockheed L-1649 Starliner
Aircraft nameDe Grasse
Operator Air France
Registration F-BHBM
Flight origin Brazzaville, Congo
1st stopover Fort Lamy Airport, Fort Lamy (now N'Djamena), Chad
Last stopover Marseille-Marignane Airport, Marseille, France (did not arrive)
Destination Paris, France
Passengers69
Crew9
Fatalities78
Survivors0

Air France Flight 406 was a Lockheed L-1649 Starliner that crashed in French Algeria on May 10, 1961, after a bomb exploded on board. All 78 passengers and crew on board were killed. It was the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Lockheed Starliner. [1]

Contents

Flight

Air France Flight 406 was an international scheduled passenger flight originating in Brazzaville, Congo, on a route with the final destination Paris, France. Intermediate stops were Fort Lamy, Chad, and Marseille, France. The flight was flown by a Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, F-BHBM De Grasse.

After taking off from Fort Lamy, and while cruising at an altitude of approximately 20,000 feet (6,100 m), the Starliner broke up after its empennage failed. The plane crashed to earth approximately 35 miles (56 km) from Edjele oilfield, near the Libya border. [2] All aboard Flight 406 were killed. [3]

Eighteen children were among the dead. Among them were the three young children of the United States Charge d'Affaires in the Central African Republic, who, along with their mother (the charge's wife), were on Flight 406 headed for London. Also among the dead were a count and countess, plus two Central African Republic government ministers. Rumors began to surface after Flight 406's crash that it had been an assassination by enemies of the Central African Republic. [4]

Investigation

The most probable cause of Air France Flight 406 crashing was sabotage with a nitrocellulose explosive. [5]

See also

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References

  1. Aviation Safety Database Lockheed L-1649 Starliner
  2. Seek to reach wreckage of French airliner
  3. Aircraft accident Lockheed L-1649A Starliner F-BHBM Edjele
  4. 18 children die in desert crash
  5. Gero, David (1996). Aviation Disasters Second Edition. Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 42.