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1973 Royal Air Maroc Sud Aviation Caravelle crash

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1973 Royal Air Maroc Sud Aviation Caravelle crash
OO-SRD, the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
DateDecember 22, 1973 (1973-12-22)
SummaryControlled flight into terrain due to pilot error and navigation error
SiteMount Mellaline, near Tanger-Boukhalef Airport, Tangier, Morocco
Aircraft
Aircraft typeSud Aviation Caravelle SE-210 VI-N
OperatorSobelair for Royal Air Maroc
RegistrationOO-SRD
Flight originParis–Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France
StopoverTanger-Boukhalef Airport, Tangier, Morocco
DestinationMohammed V International Airport, Casablanca, Morocco
Occupants106
Passengers99
Crew7
Fatalities106
Survivors0

The 1973 Royal Air Maroc Sud Aviation Caravelle crash occurred on 22 December 1973 when a Sobelair Sud Aviation Caravelle SE-210 (operating for Royal Air Maroc) crashed near the Moroccan city of Tangier. All 106 people on board were killed.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a 12-year-old Sud Aviation Caravelle SE-210 VI-N that had its maiden flight on 23 February 1961 (its test registration was F-WJAN) and was delivered to Sobelair five days later, where it was re-registered as OO-SRD.[1][2]

Accident

The aircraft was leased to Royal Air Maroc to operate a passenger flight from Paris, France, to Casablanca, Morocco, with a stopover in the Moroccan city of Tangier. Most of the passengers were Moroccan students and workers, and French tourists heading to Morocco for Christmas. Nearly all the crew members were Belgian, except one flight attendant who was Moroccan.[3] The aircraft approached runway 28 at Tangier-Boukhalef Airport at night in rainy weather. During the approach, the crew made a delayed turn and entered a mountainous area. The crew was assigned a safe holding altitude of 3,000 feet (910 m). The flight was then cleared to land and the aircraft resumed its descent. At 22:10 (according to other sources, 22:07[1]) local time, the aircraft crashed into Mount Mellaline, located 20 miles east of Tangier-Boukhalef Airport at an altitude of 2,300–2,400 feet (700–730 m), killing all 106 people on board. It was the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Morocco until the Agadir air disaster in 1975.[4][5] It remains the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Belgian airline and is the second deadliest accident involving a Sud Aviation Caravelle, behind Sterling Airways Flight 296.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Sobleair OO-SRD – 12. December 1973". SudAviation.com. SudAviation.com » Everything related to the SE210 Caravelle. Retrieved 2014-06-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "Crash of a Sud-Est Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI-N near Tetouan: 106 killed". www.baaa-acro.com. Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 2021-03-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ "A Jetliner Crashes In Moroccan Hills, Killing 106 Aboard (Published 1973)". The New York Times. 1973-12-24. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-17.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 707-321C JY-AEE Amskroud". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2021-03-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Ranter, Harro. "Morocco air safety profile". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2021-03-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VIN OO-SRD Tangier-Boukhalef Airport (TNG)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2014-06-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "Jetliner Slams Into Mountain; 106 Killed". The Dispatch. 1973-12-24. p. 10. Retrieved 2014-06-14 – via Google News.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)