Date: | Wednesday 10 May 1961 |
Time: | 02:30 |
Type: | Lockheed L-1649A Starliner |
Owner/operator: | Air France |
Registration: | F-BHBM |
MSN: | 1027 |
Year of manufacture: | 1957 |
Total airframe hrs: | 10014 hours |
Engine model: | Wright R-3350 (988TC18EA2) |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 78 / Occupants: 78 |
Other fatalities: | 0 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
Category: | Unlawful Interference |
Location: | 100 km N of Edjele -
Algeria
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
Departure airport: | Fort Lamy Airport (NDJ/FTTJ) |
Destination airport: | Marseille-Marignane Airport (MRS/LFML) |
Narrative:Air France flight 406 was carried out by a Lockheed L-1649A Starliner named "De Grasse". It was a scheduled flight from Brazzaville (BZV) to Paris with intermediate stops at Bangui Airport (BGF), Central African Republic, Fort Lamy Airport (NDJ), now N'Djamena in Chad, and Marseille. Cruising at an altitude of 20,000 feet the empennage failed. The Starliner broke up in flight and crashed in the Sahara desert. It is thought that the empennage broke away as a result of the detonation of a nitrocellulose explosive device.
Sources:
Aviation Disasters / D. Gero
The Sydney Morning Herald - May 12, 1961 Statistics
- 2nd worst accident in 1961
- worst accident of this aircraft type
- worst accident of this aircraft type at the time
Location
Images:
![](/photos/wiki/1961/19610510_stlr_F-BHBM_12302.jpg)
photo (c) Pineau; near Edjele; May 1961
![](/photos/wiki/1961/19610510_stlr_F-BHBM_12303.jpg)
photo (c) Pineau; near Edjele; May 1961
![](/photos/wiki/1961/19610510_stlr_F-BHBM_12304.jpg)
photo (c) Pineau; near Edjele; May 1961
![](/photos/wiki/1961/19610510_stlr_F-BHBM_12305.jpg)
photo (c) Pineau; near Edjele; May 1961
![](/photos/wiki/1961/19610510_stlr_F-BHBM_12306.jpg)
photo (c) Pineau; near Edjele; May 1961
![](/photos/wiki/1961/19610510_stlr_F-BHBM_12307.jpg)
photo (c) Pineau; near Edjele; May 1961
![](/photos/wiki/1961/19610510_stlr_F-BHBM_12308.jpg)
photo (c) Pineau; near Edjele; May 1961
![](/photos/wiki/1961/19610510_stlr_F-BHBM_12309.jpg)
photo (c) Pineau; near Edjele; May 1961
![](/photos/wiki/1961/19610510_stlr_F-BHBM_12310.jpg)
photo (c) Mel Lawrence; Tokyo-Haneda Airport (HND); August 1960
Revision history:
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