1956 Cairo TAI Douglas DC-6 crash
Calcutta, India | |
2nd stopover | Karachi, Pakistan |
---|---|
3rd stopover | Cairo, Egypt |
Destination | Paris, France |
Passengers | 55[1] or 52[2] |
Crew | 9 |
Fatalities | 52 |
Survivors | 12 [1] or 9[2] |
The
The crash was caused by a failing altimeter in combination with a pilot who was taking his flight exam while landing with self created limited visibility. The pilot was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.[5] Due to the crash, conducting flying exams became forbidden on passenger flights.[6]
The crash has been listed by Dutch newspaper Het Huisgezin as one of the main international disasters of 1956.[7]
Flight and crash
A
A bit later, just before 3am at around 25 km North-East of the airport, the aircraft crashed in the desert on hill, broke up and caught fire.[2]
Victims
55 passengers and 9 crew member were listed to be on board.
A total of 52 people died in the crash: 3 crew members and 49 passengers, including 11 children and 3 babies.[4] Of the 27 males who died, 22 were military.[4]
Six crew members and six passengers were able exit the airplane via the emergency exit at the front side of the airplane.[3] The six crew members who survived the crash consisted of: the experienced pilot in charge Charles Billot, who was injured, the inexperienced co-pilot who was still taking his flight exam Robert Rolland, two mechanicians and two radio operators.[2][6]
A man named Fortuna survived the crash together with his two young sons; but he lost his wife and one[2] or two daughters.[4]
Rescue operation
A major in a jeep of the Egyptian army witnessed the crash.[3]
The plane had landed in an inaccessible part of the desert two kilometers from the nearest road. It took four hours to reach the crash site by land. Next to the fact that there were several ravines and that it was a hilly path to reach the crash site, the rescue vehicles were affected by a severe sandstorm.[2][3][4]
Two Piper J-3 Cub airplanes of the national petroleum society were used to transport doctors, nurses and medication to the crash site and to transport injured people to Cairo.[3]
Cause of the crash
Soon after the accident Billot stated that the co-pilot, a trainee, would land the aircraft. At the moment that Billot saw that they were flying too low, he couldn’t do anything anymore.[2][5] Crew members stated shortly after the crash, that shortly before landing two engines failed and the pilot tried to make an emergency landing in the desert.[3]
In 1964, Billet stated before the magistrate in
Pilot Billet was blamed that he failed to monitor the co-pilot Rolland during the approach procedure and was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.[2][5] Co-pilot Rolland was blamed to rely exclusively on his instruments to fix his position at an altitude below the minimum safe altitude.[2]
Immediately after this disaster, conducting flying exams became prohibited on flights with passengers.[6]
References
- ^ Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2014-11-1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Vliegtuig kwam te laag binnen en vloog tegen heuveltje" [Aircraft came in too low and flew into a hill]. Algemeen Indisch dagblad : de Preangerbode (in Dutch). 22 February 1956 – via Delpher.
- ^ a b c d e f g "52 doden bij vliegramp in Egyptische woestijn" [52 killed in plane crash in Egyptian desert] (in Dutch). De Volkskrant. 21 February 1956 – via Delpher.
- ^ a b c d e f "Thans 52 doden bij vliegtuigramp bij Cairo" [At least 52 killed in plane crash near Cairo]. Nieuwe Tilburgsche Courant (in Dutch). 21 February 1956 – via Delpher.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-317-13467-1.
- ^ a b c d "Vlieg-examen" [Flight exam]. Het Vrije Volk (in Dutch). 11 April 1964 – via Delpher.
- ^ "Rampen troffen de wereld" [Disasters struck the world]. Het Huisgezin (in Dutch). 29 December 1956 – via Delpher.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Uitgebrand in woestijn" [Burnt out in desert]. Het Parool (in Dutch). 21 February 1956 – via Delpher.