User:Paris1127/Air Inter Flight 696

Air Inter Flight 696 was an Air Inter Vickers Viscount 724 carrying 63 passengers and 5 crew members on a scheduled French passenger flight from Lyon–Bron Airport, in Lyon, to Clermont-Ferrand-Aulnat Airport, outside Clermont-Ferrand. On October 27, 1972, it crashed into a mountain on approach. Of the 68 passengers and crew on board, only 8 passengers survived. At the time, it was the fourth deadliest accident in French history and the fourth deadliest accident involving a Vickers Viscount.

Summary
Air Inter Flight 696, operated by Captain Robert Bonnell (44), co-pilot Yannick Aubert (30), as well as instructor pilot André Lapierre (36), departed Lyon at 18:48 (CET, UTC+1) for a night flight to Clermont-Ferrand. The weather was rainy, and the visibility was around 5 miles with a low 4/8 ceiling at 2300 ft and overcast at 8000 ft. East of Clermont-Ferrand, the crew flew in a holding pattern before they were cleared to descend to 3600 ft. The Viscount collided with the mountain Pic du Picon at 1000 ft, 44 km east of the airport.

After impacting Pic du Picon, the plane crashed down onto a lower peak, the Col des Sagnes. Six hours after the crash, rescuers (from the over 2000 soldiers, policemen, and volunteers searching for the aircraft) found the crash site. The survivors were taken to the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Clermont-Ferrand.

Investigation
The investigation by France's BEA (Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile) found that flight 696's radio compass shifted 180 degrees after electrical discharges in the rainfall blocked the signals of the Clermont-Ferrand non-directional beacon. The crew, flying in the wrong direction, initiated their descent too early and collided with a mountain.

Aircraft
The accident aircraft, a Vickers Viscount 724 (c/n 50), was built in Hurn, near Bournemouth, England, for Trans-Canada Airlines; TCA assigned it the registration number CF-TGM. It first flew on March 15, 1955. Aside from an electrical issue in September 1959, the most serious incident prior to the 1972 crash occurred on February 9, 1962. Operating as Flight 362 from Toronto's Malton Airport to Ottawa's Uplands Airport, the left landing gear malfunctioned. After two failed approaches to Ottawa, the captain, Charles P. "Chuck" Kenworthy, diverted to Dorval Airport in Montreal, which had better emergency facilities and was TCA's base. He managed to land the plane successfully on only the front and right landing gear; as the plane decelerated, however, the left side dropped and the propellers impacted the ground. Aside from this engine damage, none of the 44 passengers and 5 crew were seriously injured. The plane returned to service two months later, and was withdrawn from service by Trans-Canada in January 1963. In March 1964, it was sold to Air Inter, moved to France, and re-registered as F-BMCH. At the time of the crash, the plane had accrued over 31,000 flight hours and over 26,000 landings.