Air France Flight 406 - Misplaced Pages

1961 airliner bombing

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Air France Flight 406
Bombing
A TWA Starliner similar to the accident aircraft
Date	10 May 1961
Summary	Bombing in flight
Site	Sahara Desert 29°N 9°E / 29°N 9°E / 29; 9
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lockheed L-1649 Starliner
Aircraft name	De Grasse
Operator	Air France
Registration	F-BHBM
Flight origin	Brazzaville, Congo
1st stopover	Fort Lamy Airport, Fort Lamy (now N'Djamena), Chad
Last stopover	Marseille-Marignane Airport, Marseille, France (did not arrive)
Destination	Paris, France
Passengers	69
Crew	9
Fatalities	78
Survivors	0

Air France Flight 406 was a Lockheed L-1649 Starliner that crashed in French Algeria on May 10, 1961, after a bomb exploded on board. All 78 passengers and crew on board were killed. It was the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Lockheed Starliner.

Flight

Air France Flight 406 was an international scheduled passenger flight originating in Brazzaville, Congo, on a route with the final destination Paris, France. Intermediate stops were Fort Lamy, Chad, and Marseille, France. The flight was flown by a Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, F-BHBM De Grasse.

After taking off from Fort Lamy, and while cruising at an altitude of approximately 20,000 feet (6,100 m), the Starliner broke up after its empennage failed. The plane crashed to earth approximately 35 miles (56 km) from Edjele oilfield, near the Libya border. All aboard Flight 406 were killed.

Eighteen children were among the dead. Among them were the three young children of the United States Charge d'Affaires in the Central African Republic, who, along with their mother (the charge's wife), were on Flight 406 headed for London. Also among the dead were a count and countess, plus two Central African Republic government ministers. Rumors began to surface after Flight 406's crash that it had been an assassination by enemies of the Central African Republic.

Investigation

The most probable cause of Air France Flight 406 crashing was sabotage with a nitrocellulose explosive.

References

Aviation Safety Database Lockheed L-1649 Starliner
Seek to reach wreckage of French airliner
Aircraft accident Lockheed L-1649A Starliner F-BHBM Edjele
18 children die in desert crash
Gero, David (1996). Aviation Disasters Second Edition. Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 42.

External links

Air France Flight 406 at Airdisaster.com

v t e Lockheed Constellation family
Model numbers	L-049 L-051 L-084 L-104 L-139 L-149 L-249 L-349 L-449 L-549 L-649 L-749 L-849 L-949 L-1049 A B/F L-1149 L-1249 L-1449 L-1549 L-1649
Names	Constellation (I) Constellation (II) Constellation (III) Speedfreighter Starliner Super Constellation (I) Super Constellation (II)
Military designations	B-30 C-69 C-121 F EC-121 PO R7O/R7V -2 WV W2V
Accidents and incidents	TWA Flight 513 (1946) TWA Flight 6963 (1946) Pan Am Flight 121 (1947) Pan Am Flight 1-10 (1948) Air France Flight 009 (1949) TWA Flight 903 (1950) Air India Flight 245 (1950) Pan Am Flight 151 (1951) Air France Flight 152 (1953) Air France Flight 178 (1953) KLM Flight 633 (1954) Air India Flight 300 (1955) El Al Flight 402 (1955) LAV Flight 253 (June 1956) TWA Flight 2 (1956) LAV Flight 253 (November 1956) KLM Flight 844 (1957) KLM Flight 607-E (1958) Lufthansa Flight 502 (1959) TWA Flight 891 (1959) Avianca Flight 671 (1960) Air France Flight 343 (1960) TWA Flight 266 (1960) Air France Flight 406 (1961) TWA Flight 529 (1961) IA Flight 201/8 (1961) FTL Flight 739 (1962) Paradise Airlines Flight 901A (1964) EAL Flight 853 (1965) LANSA Flight 501 (1966)
Notable aircraft	Avion Pirata Columbine II Kashmir Princess
Topics	Operators Variants

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1961 (1961)
Jan 3 Aero Flight 311Jan 16 RAF Lakenheath nuclear weapons accidentsJan 19 Aeronaves de México Flight 401Jan 24 Goldsboro B-52 crashJan 24 Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 424Jan 28 American Airlines Flight 1502Feb 3 Garuda Indonesia Flight 542Feb 15 Sabena Flight 548Mar 14 Yuba City B-52 crashMar 16 Aeroflot Flight 68Mar 28 ČSA Flight 511Apr 3 LAN-Chile Flight 621May 10 Air France Flight 406May 30 Viasa Flight 897Jun 12 KLM Flight 823Jul 11 United Air Lines Flight 859Jul 12 ČSA Flight 511Jul 19 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 644Jul 21 Alaska Airlines Flight 779Jul 30 Avion PirataAug 6 Malév C-47 crashAug 9 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crashSep 1 TWA Flight 529Sep 10 President Airlines DC-6 crashSep 12 Air France Flight 2005Sep 14 F-84 Thunderstreak incidentSep 17 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706Sep 18 Transair Sweden DC-6 crashSep 23 Turkish Airlines Flight 835Oct 7 Derby Aviation crashNov 8 Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8Nov 14 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4 crashNov 23 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 322Nov 30 Ansett-ANA Flight 325Dec 17 Aeroflot Flight 245Dec 21 British European Airways Flight 226Dec 31 Mineralnye Vody Il-18 crash
1960 ◄ ► 1962

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1961 (1961)

Jan 3 Aero Flight 311Jan 16 RAF Lakenheath nuclear weapons accidentsJan 19 Aeronaves de México Flight 401Jan 24 Goldsboro B-52 crashJan 24 Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 424Jan 28 American Airlines Flight 1502Feb 3 Garuda Indonesia Flight 542Feb 15 Sabena Flight 548Mar 14 Yuba City B-52 crashMar 16 Aeroflot Flight 68Mar 28 ČSA Flight 511Apr 3 LAN-Chile Flight 621May 10 Air France Flight 406May 30 Viasa Flight 897Jun 12 KLM Flight 823Jul 11 United Air Lines Flight 859Jul 12 ČSA Flight 511Jul 19 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 644Jul 21 Alaska Airlines Flight 779Jul 30 Avion PirataAug 6 Malév C-47 crashAug 9 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crashSep 1 TWA Flight 529Sep 10 President Airlines DC-6 crashSep 12 Air France Flight 2005Sep 14 F-84 Thunderstreak incidentSep 17 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706Sep 18 Transair Sweden DC-6 crashSep 23 Turkish Airlines Flight 835Oct 7 Derby Aviation crashNov 8 Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8Nov 14 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4 crashNov 23 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 322Nov 30 Ansett-ANA Flight 325Dec 17 Aeroflot Flight 245Dec 21 British European Airways Flight 226Dec 31 Mineralnye Vody Il-18 crash

1960 ◄ ► 1962

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Algeria
French Algeria (1830–1962)	General Leclerc's aviation accident (November 1947) French hijacking of the FLN plane (October 1956) Air France Flight 406 (May 1961)
Algeria (20th century)	Air Algérie DC-4 crash (April 1967) El Al Flight 426 hijacking (July 1968) Delta Air Lines Flight 841 (July 1972) Trans World Airlines Flight 847 (June 1985) Kuwait Airways Flight 422 (April 1988) 1994 Oriental Airlines crash (September 1994) Air France Flight 8969 (December 1994)
Algeria (21st century)	Air Algérie Flight 6289 (March 2003) Algerian Air Force C-130 crash (February 2014) Algerian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 crash (April 2018)
Includes incidents in French Algeria, and in independent Algeria.

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in France between 1950 and 1999
1950– 1954	Air India Flight 245 (November 1950) Tête de l'Obiou C-54 crash (November 1950) Air France SNCASE Languedoc crash (March 1952) Air France Flight 178 (September 1953)
1955– 1959	Hijacking of the FLN plane (October 1956)* Linee Aeree Italiane Flight 451 (November 1956) TAI Flight 307 (September 1959)
1960– 1964	Air France Flight 406 (May 1961)* Derby Aviation crash (October 1961) Air France Flight 007 (June 1962) Air France Flight 117 (June 1962)^ Malév Flight 355 (November 1962) Air Inter Flight 2611 (August 1963)
1965– 1969	Air India Flight 101 (January 1966) Air Ferry DC-4 accident (June 1967) Air France Flight 212 (6 March 1968)^ Sainte-Marie Douglas DC-6 crash (9 March 1968)^ Air France Flight 1611 (September 1968)
1970s	Pakistan International Airlines Flight 712 (December 1971) Air Inter Flight 696Y (October 1972) Nantes mid-air collision (March 1973) Paris Air Show Tu-144 crash (June 1973) Varig Flight 820 (11 July 1973) Pan Am Flight 816 (22 July 1973)^ Turkish Airlines Flight 981 (March 1974) TWA Flight 355 (September 1976)
1980s	Aer Lingus Flight 164 (May 1981) Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308 (December 1981) Air Littoral Flight 1919 (December 1987) TAT Flight 230 (March 1988) Air France Flight 296Q (June 1988)
1990s	Air Inter Flight 148 (January 1992) Trans-Air Service Flight 671 (March 1992) Lufthansa CityLine Flight 5634 (January 1993) Airbus Industrie Flight 129 (June 1994) Air France Flight 8969 (December 1994) Proteus Airlines Flight 706 (July 1998)
^ Occurred in overseas departments and overseas territories * Occurred in French Algeria, now an independent country 1785–1949 ◄ 1950–1999 ► 2000–

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