1973 Nantes mid-air collision
Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 5 March 1973 |
Summary | Mid-air collision caused by ATC error |
Site | Nantes, France 47°00′58″N 1°26′03″W / 47.0161°N 1.4343°W |
Total fatalities | 68 |
Total survivors | 107 |
First aircraft | |
![]() An Iberia DC-9-32, similar to the one involved | |
Type | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
London Heathrow Airport London, United Kingdom |
Occupants | 107 |
Passengers | 99 |
Crew | 8 |
Fatalities | 0 |
Injuries | 0 |
Survivors | 107 |
The 1973 Nantes mid-air collision occurred when two airliners travelling to
Crash
Iberia flight 504, a scheduled service from Palma de Mallorca, and Spantax flight 400, a charter flight from Madrid, were both traversing France en route to Heathrow airport in London. They were guided by French military
The CV-990 managed to land at Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base with damage to its left wing.[4] A survivor, Betty Barrett, later recounted:
My father was sitting in the aisle seat, and I was on the right hand side. And I turned around, and he's very British and very stoic, and I said "daddy do you think we are going to make it?". He said "I rather doubt it darling" and pointed to the other wing.[5]
All 61 passengers and 7 crew of the Iberia flight were killed, including
Report
The accident was investigated by French air accident body, the Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety. Its report identified difficulties in communication between the flight crew of the Convair CV-990 and air traffic control as well as procedural errors from both parties. The crew's unilateral decision to turn the aircraft brought it into the path of the DC-9. ATC had assumed a time-based separation of the two aircraft at the same flight level.
In popular culture
The event is briefly mentioned in the MSNBC/The Weather Channel documentary series Why Planes Crash, during the first season episode "Collision Course". The episode features an interview with survivor Betty Barrett who shows images of the CV-990's damaged wing after landing.[5]
See also
References
- ^ a b "ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-990-30A-5 Coronado EC-BJC La Plance, near Nantes". Aviation-safety.net. 5 March 1973. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "EC-BII Iberia McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 - cn 47077 / ln 148 - Planespotters.net Just Aviation". Planespotters.net. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ a b c "1973: Mid-air collision kills 68". BBC news. BBC. 5 March 1973. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ISBN 9781780338293.
- ^ a b Sommers, Caroline (27 April 2013). Collision Course. Why Planes Crash: NBC Peacock Productions. Archived from the original (TV Documentary) on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ Leblanc, Larry (27 February 2010). "Re-experiencing Jimi Hendrix". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
External links
- Final accident report, Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (in French)
- English translation hosted by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch