Air France Flight 296
| Air France Flight 296 | |
|---|---|
_F-GFKQ_-_MSN_002_(10655931213).jpg) An Air France Airbus A320-100 |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Controlled flight into terrain |
| place | near Habsheim , France |
| date | June 26, 1988 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 133 |
| Injured | 50 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Airbus A320 |
| operator | Air France |
| Mark | F-GFKC |
| Passengers | 130 |
| crew | 6th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
The Air France Flight 296 was a charter flight of a recently delivered fly-by-wire - Airbus A320-111 of Air France . On June 26, 1988 it was planned as part of an air show that the new Airbus would complete a flyby over the nearby Mulhouse-Habsheim airport after its take-off from Basel-Mulhouse airport . It was supposed to fly past the audience at a height of 100 feet (approx. 30.5 m) in front of the television cameras at low speed and with the landing gear extended. But it then sank further to 30 feet and fell into the treetops behind the runway. Three passengers died. The cause of the accident is controversial as irregularities were discovered later. This was the first crash of an Airbus A320.
Official report
The official report states the following causes for the accident:
- Very low altitude, lower than the surrounding obstacles (trees)
- Very low speed, reduced enough to achieve the maximum possible angle of attack
- Motors idling during flight
- Much too late to run up the engines at the end of the runway
These causes eventually led to contact with the trees and crash.
Whether the late reaction of the engines is due to the fact that the pilots illegally flown lower than planned in order to be able to present the new aircraft closer to the audience, or whether the pilots flew so low as a result of the aircraft's unexpected reaction remains a matter of dispute because parts of the black box records are missing.
The investigative commission assumes that the descent to below 100 feet was not intended, but was due to the failure to observe the visual and acoustic information regarding the aircraft's altitude.
Controversial points
Anomalies in the operation of the A320
Investigations commissioned by third parties question the conclusions of the official investigation. The flight captain set the altitude pre-selection to 100 feet, while the video footage shows the aircraft sank to less than 30 feet. The master also reported that the engines initially did not respond to his thrust reinforcement. In the month before the accident, Airbus issued two Operational Engineering Bulletins (OEB), which reported anomalous behavior of the A320. Air France did not send these bulletins to all pilots until after the accident.
OEB 19/1: Inability of the engines to accelerate at low altitude
This OEB points out that the engines may not react immediately if they are suddenly set to full thrust at a very low altitude.
OEB 06/2: Cross-check of the barometric instruments
This OEB declares that the barometric altitude does not always work correctly.
These disturbances could explain both the failure to increase thrust and the crew's inability to complete the steep descent when the machine sank below 100 feet into the trees.
Irregularities in the investigation
According to French law, the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder must be immediately seized by the police after an accident. Nevertheless, in this case, the devices were withheld for ten days by the Direction générale de l'aviation civile , until they were finally seized by the police in the open state. The case for the magnetic tape had been broken open so that it could not even be checked whether it was the original tape. The crucial last seconds before the crash were blank on the tape without recording. In view of these facts, the court report assumes that the flight recorders were tampered with shortly after the crash.
The cockpit voice recorder recorded that the captain was surprised that the engines did not react as quickly as he expected. From this reaction, however, the reason for the flight that is too deep cannot be deduced.
consequences
The crash itself did not cause any fatalities, but 3 of the 130 passengers were killed in the subsequent fire: a child who could not free himself from the seat belts, a woman who wanted to help this child, and a disabled boy who did not escape independently could.
The flight captain, the co-pilot, two Air France employees and the president of the Aviation Club who sponsored the show were charged with negligent homicide and negligent assault. All five were found guilty. The captain was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for twelve months, the others were given low suspended sentences. In the appeal hearing, the captain's sentence was increased to ten months, plus an additional ten months probation. The captain walked freely out of the courtroom and said he wanted to phone the Cour de cassation . To do this, under French law, he would first have had to be in prison before the Supreme Court would deal with his case.
filming
In 2010 the accident was the third episode of the 9th season as a pilot vs. Planned in English and re- enacted as The maiden flight of the A320 in the Canadian television series Mayday - Alarm in the cockpit .
See also
- Indian Airlines Flight 605 , in which an Airbus A320 crashed while approaching HAL Bangalore International Airport in 1990 , which led to controversy over the newly introduced Airbus A320
- Air Inter Flight 148 , at the 1992 Airbus A320 on approach to the airport Strasbourg accident
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Final report of the BEA (French | 36MB; PDF)
- ↑ New Scientist - Technology: Fresh evidence prompts row over Airbus crash (English)
Coordinates: 47 ° 44 ′ 58 " N , 7 ° 25 ′ 34" E