Incident Overview
Date: Saturday 22 December 1973
Aircraft Type: Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI-N
Owner/operator: Royal Air Maroc – RAM, lsf Sobelair
Registration Number: OO-SRD
Location: ca. 40 km E of Tangier-Boukhalef Airport (TNG) –
ÿ Morocco
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 106 / Occupants: 106
Component Affected: Aircraft ? specifically, the outbound turn extension and the aircraft’s trajectory.Aircraft ? specifically, the outbound turn extension and the aircraft’s trajectory.
Category: Accident
A Caravelle, a Royal Air Maroc aircraft, crashed on Mount Mellaline near Ttouan, Morocco, resulting in the deaths of all 106 occupants. The aircraft encountered hazardous terrain during descent and extended its outbound turn too far east, causing it to overfly terrain.A Caravelle, a Royal Air Maroc aircraft, crashed on Mount Mellaline near Ttouan, Morocco, resulting in the deaths of all 106 occupants. The aircraft encountered hazardous terrain during descent and extended its outbound turn too far east, causing it to overfly terrain.
Description
A Caravelle, operating for Royal Air Maroc, impacted a mountain while on descent towards Tangier, Morocoo, killing all 106 occupants. Sobelair’s Caravalle OO-SRD was leased to Royal Air Maroc on December 10, 1973. On December 22 it operated on a flight from Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LBG) to Casablanca, Morocco with an enroute stop at Tangier (TNG). The Caravelle approached Tangier in darkness and rain when the pilot extended the outbound procedural turn for runway 28 too far east, causing the plane to overfly hazardous terrain. At 22:10 the aircraft flew into the side of Mount Mellaline near Ttouan at 2300 feet. It was considered possible that the aircraft had lost altitude as a result of turbulence or vertical mountain waves.
Primary Cause
Pilot error ? excessive turn extension leading to collision with terrain.Pilot error ? excessive turn extension leading to collision with terrain.Share on:
