Today in History: A Boeing 707 crashed due to unknown causes, killing 113
The plane crashed on the small Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
The plane crashed on the small Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, while attempting to land at the island’s largest city, Pointe-à-Pitre.
Air France Flight 117 had been largely uneventful until it approached Pointe-à-Pitre, where the airport is surrounded by mountains and requires a steep descent. The weather was poor at the time, with violent thunderstorms and a low cloud ceiling.
The crew reported themselves over the non-directional beacon at 1 524m and turned east to begin the final approach. Due to incorrect automatic direction-finder readings caused by the thunderstorm, the plane strayed 15km west from the procedural let-down track, and crashed into a forest on a hill called Dos D’Ane (The Donkey’s Back) on 22 June 1962, at an altitude of about 427m and exploded, killing all 103 passengers and 10 crew members on board. Among the dead were French Guianan politician and war hero, Justin Catayée, and poet and black-consciousness activist, Paul Niger.
The crash was only one of five major accidents involving Boeing 707s in 1962. Altogether, 457 people died in these crashes.
The investigation could not determine the exact reason for the accident, but it was suspected that the insufficient meteorological information given to the crew, failure of the ground equipment, and the atmospheric effects on the ADF indicator all played a role.
After the crash, Air France pilots criticised under-developed airports with facilities that were ill-equipped to handle jet aircraft, such as Guadeloupe’s airport.
This was the second accident in less than three weeks with an Air France Boeing 707 – the preceding accident occurred on 3 June 1962.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
