Incident Overview

Date: Monday 6 February 1989
Aircraft Type: Vickers 952F Vanguard
Owner/operator: Royal Air Maroc – RAM, lsf Inter Cargo Service
Registration Number: F-GEJE
Location: Marseille-Provence Airport (MRS) – ÿ France
Phase of Flight: Take off
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Component Affected: Aileron servo-compensatorAileron servo-compensator
Category: Accident
A Vanguard F-GEJE cargo flight from Paris to Casablanca was aborted due to control difficulties during takeoff. The aircraft lost control, resulting in a crash into the water to the right of the runway. The incident was likely caused by a failure in the control chain of an aileron servo-compensator, potentially exacerbated by a damage to the left aileron servo-compensator caused by a stepladder during the last landing. The crew’s initial roll control detection was insufficient, leading to an incorrect analysis and failure to perform all required checks.A Vanguard F-GEJE cargo flight from Paris to Casablanca was aborted due to control difficulties during takeoff. The aircraft lost control, resulting in a crash into the water to the right of the runway. The incident was likely caused by a failure in the control chain of an aileron servo-compensator, potentially exacerbated by a damage to the left aileron servo-compensator caused by a stepladder during the last landing. The crew’s initial roll control detection was insufficient, leading to an incorrect analysis and failure to perform all required checks.

Description

Vanguard F-GEJE was chartered by Royal Air Maroc and Air France to carry out a cargo flight from Paris (ORY) to Casablanca. The airplane was to return as flight 3132 to Marseille (MRS) and Paris (ORY). On the return flight at Marseille some cargo was offloaded and new cargo loaded. At 18:08 the airplane taxied to runway 32R and was cleared for takeoff four minutes later. The takeoff was aborted when the crew experienced problems with the flight controls. The crew requested current wind information and after completing some checks requested clearance for departure. During the second attempt to takeoff from runway 32R, the crew experienced control difficulties. The airplane banked to the right until it crashed into the water to the right of the runway. PROBABLE CAUSES (translated from French): “The accident resulted from a loss of control of the aircraft during take-off following a failure (or disconnection) in the control chain of an aileron servo-compensator. This failure (disconnection) most likely occurred when using the thrust reversers on the last landing. This failure (disconnection) appears to be the result of an earlier damage probably located in the control chain of the left aileron servo-compensator, struck by a stepladder after the antepenultimate flight; however, the link between the two elements could not be formally established. Before take-off, the crew did detect the anomaly in the roll controls but performed an incorrect analysis and did not perform all the checks required by the flight manual in this case. The power reduction immediately after take-off exacerbated the loss of control of the aircraft by causing it to stall. The fact that this flight is an instruction flight and the relatively modest experience of this crew on aircraft of this technology were aggravating factors.”

Primary Cause

Failure of the control chain of an aileron servo-compensator.Failure of the control chain of an aileron servo-compensator.

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