FATAL ACCIDENTS EVENTS
AIR FRANCE
The following events are
those involving at least one passenger death where the
aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role. Excluded
would be events where the only passengers killed were
stowaways, hijackers, or saboteurs.
25 July 2000; Air
France Concorde near Paris, France: The aircraft
was on a charter flight from Charles de Gaulle airport
near Paris to JFK airport in New York. Shortly before
rotation, the front right tire of the left landing gear
ran over a strip of metal which had fallen off of another
aircraft. Pieces of the damaged tire were thrown against
the aircraft structure. There was a subsequent fuel leak
and major fire under the left wing.
Shortly afterwards, power
was lost on engine number two and for a brief period on
engine number one. The aircraft was neither able to climb
nor accelerate, and the crew found that the landing gear
would not retract. The aircraft maintained a speed of 200
kt and an altitude of 200 feet for about one minute. The
crew lost control of the aircraft and crashed into a
hotel in the town of Gonesse shortly after engine number
one lost power for the second time. All 100 passengers
and nine crew members were killed. Four people on the
ground were also killed.
Concorde
Accidents
Air
France safety profile from the Aviation Safety
Network
Major
Accidents in France from the Aviation Safety
Network
20 April 1998;
Air France 727-200 near Bogota, Colombia: The
aircraft was on a flight from Bogota to Quito, Ecuador.
Three minues after takeoff, the plane crashed into the
mountain at about 1600 feet (500m) above the airport
elevation. Although it was an Air France flight, the
aircraft was leased from TAME airlines of Ecuador and was
flown by an Ecuadorian crew. All 43 passengers and 10
crew members were killed.
24 December 1994;
Air France A300; Algiers Airport, Algeria:
Hijackers killed 3 of the 267 passengers. Later,
commandos retook the aircraft and killed four
hijackers.
5 September 1996;
Air France 747-400; near Ouagadougou, Burkina
Faso: Severe turbulence associated with a
weather front seriously injured three of the 206
passengers. One of the three passengers later died of
injuries caused by an in flight entertainment
screen.
20 January 1992;
Air Inter A320; near Strasbourg, France:
Aircraft had a controlled flight into terrain after the
flight crew incorrectly set the flight management system.
Five of the six crew and 82 of the 87 passengers
perished.
26 June 1988; Air
France A320; Near Mulhouse-Habsheim Airport,
France: The aircraft crashed into trees during
an air show maneuver when the aircraft failed to gain
height during a low pass with the gear extended. Three of
the 136 passengers were killed.
27 June 1976; Air
France A300; Entebbe, Uganda: Aircraft was
hijacked and all aboard taken hostage. Some passengers
were released shortly after the hijacking and the
remainder were taken to Entebbe, Uganda. The remaining
hostages were eventually rescued in a commando raid.
About seven of the 258 passengers were killed.