Air France Flight 406
1961 airliner bombing
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 A TWA Starliner similar to the accident aircraft | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 10 May 1961 |
| Summary | Bombing in flight |
| Site | Sahara Desert |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Lockheed L-1649 Starliner |
| Aircraft name | De 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 |
| Passengers | 69 |
| Crew | 9 |
| Fatalities | 78 |
| Survivors | 0 |
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]
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
- List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
- UTA Flight 772, which was bombed over a desert
- Air France Flight 2005, another Air France aviation disaster that took place on the continent of Africa in 1961
References
External links
- Air France Flight 406 at Airdisaster.com[usurped]
- v
- t
- e
- TWA Flight 513 (1946)
- TWA Flight 6963 (1946)
- Pan Am Flight 121 (1947)
- Pan Am Flight 1-10 (1948)
- Air France Flight 009 (1949)
- TWA Flight 903 (1950)
- Air India Flight 245 (1950)
- Pan Am Flight 151 (1951)
- Air France Flight 152 (1953)
- Air France Flight 178 (1953)
- KLM Flight 633 (1954)
- Air India Flight 300 (1955)
- El Al Flight 402 (1955)
- LAV Flight 253 (June 1956)
- TWA Flight 2 (1956)
- LAV Flight 253 (November 1956)
- KLM Flight 844 (1957)
- KLM Flight 607-E (1958)
- Lufthansa Flight 502 (1959)
- TWA Flight 891 (1959)
- Avianca Flight 671 (1960)
- Air France Flight 343 (1960)
- TWA Flight 266 (1960)
- Air France Flight 406 (1961)
- TWA Flight 529 (1961)
- IA Flight 201/8 (1961)
- FTL Flight 739 (1962)
- Paradise Airlines Flight 901A (1964)
- EAL Flight 853 (1965)
- LANSA Flight 501 (1966)
