1973 Nantes mid-air collision

Iberia Flight 504
Spantax Flight 400

Accident
Date	5 March 1973
Summary	Mid-air collision caused by ATC error
Site	Nantes, France 47.0161°N 1.4343°W / 47.0161; -1.4343
Total fatalities	68
Total survivors	107
First aircraft
File:IBERIA DC-9-32; EC-BII, May 1969.jpg The Iberia DC-9-32 involved in the accident
Type	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
Operator	Iberia
IATA flight No.	IB504
ICAO flight No.	IBE504
Call sign	IBERIA 504
Registration	EC-BII
Flight origin	Palma de Mallorca Airport
Destination	London Heathrow Airport London, United Kingdom
Occupants	68
Passengers	61
Crew	7
Fatalities	68
Survivors	0
Second aircraft
The Spantax Convair 990 involved in the accident
Type	Convair 990 Coronado
Operator	Spantax
IATA flight No.	BX400
ICAO flight No.	BXS400
Call sign	SPANTAX 400
Registration	EC-BJC
Flight origin	Madrid-Barajas Airport
Destination	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 London Heathrow airport hit each other over Nantes, France, on 5 March 1973. They were an Iberia McDonnell Douglas DC-9 flying from Palma de Mallorca to London and a Spantax Convair 990 from Madrid to London. All 68 people on board the DC-9 were killed. The CV-990 was able to make a successful emergency landing at Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base.

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 Air Traffic Control as the country's civilian air traffic controllers were on strike. The Iberia DC-9 was due to reach the Nantes VOR point at 12:52 at flight level 290 (29,000 feet) and the Spantax Convair CV-990 was scheduled to reach it at 13:00 at the same level. Both aircraft had received instructions from Marina sector Air Traffic Control at the French Air Force base in Mont-de-Marsan, who asked them to contact Menhir sector ATC at the French Air Force base in Brest. The Spantax aircraft was on the boundary between the sectors and had difficulty hearing Marina ATC, also receiving no reply to two requests to circle to avoid arriving at the Nantes VOR before 13:00 GMT. The crew decided to start the manoeuvre without ATC authorisation and while in cloud collided with the Iberia DC-9 at 12:52 GMT. The DC-9 lost control, exploded, and broke up in mid-air before crashing to the ground.

The CV-990 managed to land at Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base with damage to its left wing. 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.

All 61 passengers and 7 crew of the Iberia flight were killed, including Michael Jeffery, the former manager of The Animals and Jimi Hendrix. 47 of the dead were British citizens. No-one aboard the Spantax flight was harmed.

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.

See also

• List of civilian mid-air collisions

External links

• Final accident report, Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (in French)
  • PDF version (Archive)
  • HTML version
• English translation hosted by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch
  • Report PDF (Archive)
  • Appendices (Archive)