ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 707-328 F-BHSM Paris-Orly Airport (ORY)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Sunday 3 June 1962
Time:11:34 UTC
Type:Silhouette image of generic B703 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Boeing 707-328
Operator:Air France
Registration: F-BHSM
MSN: 17920/159
First flight: 1960
Total airframe hrs:4491
Engines: 4 Pratt & Whitney JT4A-9
Crew:Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 10
Passengers:Fatalities: 122 / Occupants: 122
Total:Fatalities: 130 / Occupants: 132
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Paris-Orly Airport (ORY) (   France)
Crash site elevation: 89 m (292 feet) amsl
Phase: Takeoff (TOF)
Nature:Int'l Non Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Paris-Orly Airport (ORY/LFPO), France
Destination airport:New York-Idlewild International Airport, NY (IDL/KIDL), United States of America
Flightnumber:AF007
Narrative:
The Boeing 707 aircraft, named "Chateau de Sully", was on a non-scheduled (charter) international flight from Paris (ORY) to Atlanta (ATL) and Houston via New York (JFK). Ten crew and 122 passengers were on the flight when, after a considerable delay to await the arrival of passengers, it was cleared to take off from runway 08 at Orly Airport at 11:32 UTC. It aligned itself for takeoff and waited 6 seconds, which permitted the setting and checking of takeoff parameters on the four engines. Full thrust was applied, and the aircraft accelerated normally. From testimony and flight recorder data, the takeoff was reconstructed as follows. Between 20 to 40 seconds after the start of the roll, the rate of acceleration was steady at 1.80 m/s2. The aircraft rolled along the runway centre line without showing any tendency to veer to either side. V1, determined as 147 kt IAS, was attained after a ground roll of 1500 m. This was followed by VR, 158 kt IAS. Forty-eight seconds after the beginning of the takeoff run and approximately when passing the 1800 m mark, the aircraft reached the rotation speed (VR), and the pilot-in-command initiated the takeoff manoeuvre by pulling backwards on the control column. According to witnesses, the aircraft made an incomplete rotational movement about 2100 m from the threshold. It remained for 4 to 6 seconds with its nose slightly raised. Then the nose dropped when the brakes were applied. Thick smoke streamed from the wheels. The aircraft was 2600 m from its starting point and had reached a maximum speed of 179 kt IAS. It braked for the last 680 m of the runway with an average deceleration of 1.2 to 1.3 m/s After 250 m of braking the aircraft veered slightly to the left, and 50deg of flap were selected. Then after another 250 m the aircraft listed heavily to starboard. Its path then curved right, which suggests a possible attempt to ground loop. However, the aircraft's speed precluded the success of this manoeuvre, and it left the runway while still on the centre line. It rolled for a while on the grass extension of the runway but, because of the unevenness of the terrain and the high speed of the aircraft (160 kt), the port gear broke off 110 m from the end of the runway and was wrenched away. The aircraft pivoted left, and engines No. 1 and 2 scraped the ground. Fire broke out in the port wing at the level of the landing gear. About 300 m beyond the end of the runway the aircraft crossed the encircling road. The starboard gear collapsed, and No. 2 engine broke loose. It then struck the approach lights, which represented a considerable obstacle. It started to disintegrate when reaching the hollow at the end of the runway extension, which descends at a steep angle towards the Seine. The front part of the fuselage struck a house and garage. The nose of the aircraft broke away, and the rest of the fuselage came to a stop 100 m further on. The site of the accident was 550 m beyond the end of runway 08 on its extended centre line, at an elevation of 89 m.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The accident was due to the concurrence of: 1) a considerable out-of-trim condition producing major loads on the control column at VR and VLOF which may have seemed prohibitive to the pilot-in-command; and 2) a failure of the trim servo motor control system which prevented the pilot-in-command from rectifying the faulty setting of the stabilizer and, consequently, from reducing the reaction at the control column. These factors led the pilot-in-command to discontinue take-off, but it was too late to stop the aircraft on the runway or slow it down sufficiently before the end of the runway."

Accident investigation:

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Investigating agency: BEA France
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 2 years and 8 months
Download report: Final report

Classification:
Horizontal stabilizer
Runway excursion

Sources:
» ICAO Accident Digest No.14 Volume II, Circular 71-AN/63 (71-79)


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Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Paris-Orly Airport to New York-Idlewild International Airport, NY as the crow flies is 5791 km (3619 miles).
Accident location: Exact; deduced from official accident report.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Boeing 707

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