Unlawful Interference Lockheed L-1649A Starliner F-BHBM, Wednesday 10 May 1961

Date:	Wednesday 10 May 1961
Time:	02:30
Type:	Lockheed L-1649A Starliner
Owner/operator:	Air France
Registration:	F-BHBM
MSN:	1027
Year of manufacture:	1957
Total airframe hrs:	10014 hours
Engine model:	Wright R-3350 (988TC18EA2)
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 78 / Occupants: 78
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Unlawful Interference
Location:	100 km N of Edjele - Algeria
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Fort Lamy Airport (NDJ/FTTJ)
Destination airport:	Marseille-Marignane Airport (MRS/LFML)

Narrative:
Air France flight 406, a Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, crashed following the in-flight detonation of an explosive device, 100 km north of Edjele, Algeria, killing all 78 occupants.

Flight AF406 was carried out by a Lockheed L-1649A Starliner named "De Grasse". It was a scheduled flight from Brazzaville (BZV) to Paris with intermediate stops at Bangui Airport (BGF), Central African Republic, Fort Lamy Airport (NDJ), now N'Djamena in Chad, and Marseille. Cruising at an altitude of 20,000 feet the empennage failed. The Starliner broke up in flight and crashed in the Sahara desert. It is thought that the empennage broke away as a result of the detonation of a nitrocellulose explosive device.

Sources:

Aviation Disasters / D. Gero
The Sydney Morning Herald - May 12, 1961

Location

Images:

photo (c) Pineau; near Edjele; May 1961