Boeing S.307B-1 Stratoliner – F-BELV

Incident Overview

Date: Monday 18 October 1965

Aircraft Type: Boeing S.307B-1 Stratoliner

Owner/operator: ICSC, lsf Compagnie Int. de Transports Civil Ariens

Registration Number: F-BELV

Location: near Hanoi – ÿ Vietnam

Phase of Flight: En route

Status: Aircraft missing, written off

Casualties: Fatalities: 13 / Occupants: 13

Component Affected: Boeing SA.307 StratolinerBoeing SA.307 Stratoliner

Category: Unlawful Interference

Description

The French Boeing SA.307 Stratoliner was operated on behalf of the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Vietnam (ICSC). On board were four French crew members and nine international delegation members of the ICSC. The flight departed Vientiane-Wattay Airport in Laos at 15:05 hours. The crew contacted Hanoi-Gia Lam Airport in Vietnam at 15:20, giving its estimated time of arrival as 16:44 hours. This was the last radio contact. French and Canadian forces searched for the plane over Laotian territory but were refused to search over North Vietnam. North Vietnamese authorities reported that they did not find the plane. A study by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1996 concluded that the aircraft most likely crashed due to inadvertent or deliberate anti-aircraft fire by a North Vietnamese military unit.