ASN Aircraft accident Dassault Falcon 20E F-GHLN Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LBG)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Friday 20 January 1995
Time:17:31
Type:Silhouette image of generic FA20 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Dassault Falcon 20E
Operator:Leadair UniJet
Registration: F-GHLN
MSN: 255
First flight: 1972
Engines: 2 General Electric CF700-2D2
Crew:Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
Total:Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LBG) (   France)
Crash site elevation: 66 m (217 feet) amsl
Phase: Initial climb (ICL)
Nature:Int'l Non Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LBG/LFPB), France
Destination airport:Sibiu Airport (SBZ/LRSB), Romania
Flightnumber:001N
Narrative:
During alignment after take-off the pilots noticed some lapwings on the runway. Immediately after rotation from runway 25, a glow appeared near the left engine and then a flame at the rear of the aircraft. The crew performed a short visual manoeuvre. The electrical and hydraulic circuits rapidly became inoperative. The aircraft landed with its gear retracted after 1 min, 40 sec of flight, within airport territory near the point of departure, and slid approx 400 m. It was completely destroyed by impact and fire.
The initial cause of the accident was uncontained damage to the left engine, which set the tail compartment on fire. Dead birds were strewn on the ground in the takeoff area. Pieces of the left engine, including the fan disc, were found along the initial climb path.

Probable Cause:

The accident was the result of a combination of two events:
- massive ingestion of birds of the crested lapwing species by the left engine after rotation,
- uncontrolled damage to this engine due to the failure of its fan rotor overspeed protection system, which led to the aircraft fire. The rapid development of the fire caused the aircraft to lose control in the final phase of the emergency landing attempt.

Classification:
Bird strike
Uncontained engine failure
Loss of control

Sources:
» ICAO Adrep Summary 4/1995 (#10)


Photos

photo of Dassault-Falcon-20E-F-GHLN
accident date: 20-01-1995
type: Dassault Falcon 20E
registration: F-GHLN
 

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-Le Bourget Airport to Sibiu Airport as the crow flies is 1650 km (1031 miles).

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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Falcon 20

  • 514 built
  • 26th loss
  • 10th fatal accident
  • The worst accident (at the time)
  • 2nd worst accident (currently)
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 France
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  • 68th worst accident (currently)
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