 JY-AEE, the aircraft involved, seen at Frankfurt Airport, the day before the crash | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 3, 1975 (1975-08-03) |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error |
| Site | Near Tamri, Morocco 30°35′12″N 9°24′40″W / 30.586776°N 9.411217°W / 30.586776; -9.411217 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 707-321C |
| Operator | Jordanian World Airways on behalf of Royal Air Maroc |
| Registration | JY-AEE |
| Flight origin | Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France |
| Destination | Inezgane Airport, Agadir, Morocco |
| Occupants | 188 |
| Passengers | 181 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 188 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On August 3, 1975, Royal Air Maroc chartered a Boeing 707 passenger flight from Le Bourget Airport in Paris to Inezgane Airport in Agadir which crashed into a mountain on approach to Agadir Inezgane Airport, Morocco. All 188 passengers and crew on board were killed. It is the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Boeing 707 and the deadliest in Morocco.
Flight
The 707, owned by Jordanian World Airways, a subsidiary of Alia, was chartered by the national airline of Morocco, Royal Air Maroc, to fly 181 Moroccan workers and their families from France home for the holidays. The aircraft approached Agadir in the early hours of the morning at the time of the crash. There was heavy fog in the area and the aircraft was flying in from the northeast over the Atlas Mountains. At around 04:25 local time, as the 707 was descending from 8,000 feet (2,400 m) for a runway 29 approach, its right wingtip and no. 4 (outer-right) engine struck a peak at 2,400 feet (730 m) altitude. Part of the wing separated. The aircraft lost control and crashed into a ravine.
Rescue teams found wreckage over a wide area. The extent of the destruction was such that nothing bigger than 1 square metre (10 sq ft) in size was found.
Cause
The cause of the crash was determined to be pilot error in not ensuring positive course guidance before beginning descent. The aircraft had not followed the usual north-south corridor generally used for flights to Agadir.
References
- Ranter, Harro. "Accident description". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network.
- "188 on Charter Jet Killed In Moroccan Crash in Fog". The New York Times. August 4, 1975. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- Accident Synopsis 08031975
- "Un Boeing jordanien s'écrase près d'Agadir. CATASTROPHE AÉRIENNE AU MAROC: 188 MORTS" [A Jordanian Boeing crashes near Agadir. AERIAL DISASTER IN MOROCCO: 188 DEATHS] (PDF) (in French). Retrieved August 9, 2019.
| Aviation accidents and incidents in 1975 (1975) | |
|---|---|
| Jan 9 Golden West Airlines Flight 261Jan 17 Kjalarnes helicopter crashJan 30 Turkish Airlines Flight 345Mar 31 Royal Nepal Airlines Pilatus PC-6 Porter crashApr 4 Tân Sơn Nhứt C-5 accidentJun 24 Eastern Air Lines Flight 66Jul 15 Aeroflot Flight E-15Jul 31 Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 134Aug 3 Agadir Royal Air Maroc Boeing 707 crashAug 20 ČSA Flight 540Aug 30 Wien Air Alaska Flight 99Sep 1 Interflug Flight 1107Sep 24 Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 150Sep 30 Malév Flight 240Oct 14 Żabbar Avro Vulcan crashOct 30 Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 450Nov 12 Overseas National Airways Flight 032Nov 17 Aeroflot Flight 6274Nov 29 Graham Hill plane crashDec 23 South African Air Force Alouette crash | |
| 1974 ◄ ► 1976 |
| Aviation accidents and incidents in Morocco | |
|---|---|
| 1950s–1960s |
|
| 1970s |
|
| 1980s–1990s |
|
| 21st century |
|
| Asterisks (*) = occurred in the Western Sahara | |
- Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain
- Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1975
- Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 707
- Aviation accidents and incidents in Morocco
- Royal Air Maroc accidents and incidents
- Royal Jordanian accidents and incidents
- 1975 in Morocco
- August 1975 events in Africa
- 1975 disasters in Morocco