Crash of a Sud-Est Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI-N on Mt Mellaline: 106 killed
Date & Time:
Dec 22, 1973 at 2210 LT
Operator:
Registration:
OO-SRD
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Paris - Tangier
MSN:
69
YOM:
1961
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
99
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
106
Captain / Total hours on type:
3563.00
Copilot / Total hours on type:
47
Aircraft flight hours:
23193
Aircraft flight cycles:
17334
Circumstances:
Leased by Sobelair to Royal Air Maroc, the airplane was completing a charter flight from Paris-Le Bourget to Tangier. While descending to Tangier-Boukhalef Airport at night and marginal weather conditions, the airplane entered a wrong approach circuit and flew too far to the east. At an altitude of 2,400 feet, it impacted the slope of Mt Mellaline located 42 km east of Tangier-Boukhalef Airport runway 28 threshold. The wreckage was found a day later at an altitude of 750 metres and all 106 occupants have been killed. The airplane disintegrated and exploded on impact.
Probable cause:
An examination of the final minutes of the flight and the flight path, shows that the procedural turn was initiated beyond the distance specified on the ILS Instrument Approach Chart for Runway 28 at Tangier Airport. This situation can be attributed, on one hand, to the significant strength of the positive wind component at that distance. On the other hand, to the fact that the aircraft did not fly over the outer marker and that the pilot was unable to time the approach correctly in a timely manner. The aircraft was therefore outside the protection zones associated with the airport’s intermediate approach and found itself entering over mountainous terrain. It was subsequently exposed to various variations in mountainous atmospheric conditions characterized by severe turbulence, a significant wind gradient, and likely also gusts. Analysis of the flight recorder showed that during the final seconds of flight, the aircraft experienced a significant deceleration (23 knots in five seconds) followed by a loss of altitude of approximately 400 feet. This loss of altitude, combined with the aforementioned conditions, proved fatal for the Caravelle, which crashed head-on into the side of Pic ‘792’ at an altitude of approximately 750 meters and a distance of 23 NM from the QFU 28 of the destination airport.
Final Report:
