A video has been released on the internet showing the sequence of events that led to the January 1992 Air Inter Airbus A320 crash into Mount Saint Odile, days before a French tribunal is due to rule on involuntary manslaughter charges faced by six aviation officials.
The accident killed 87 passengers onboard the A320-100 when it crashed at La Bloss, in Barr commune at 19:20 on 20 January 1992. Only nine people onboard the aircraft (F-GGED) survived.
Fourteen years later on 2 May, a trial started at the Colmar correctional court of six officials comprising lead personnel from Air Inter (now merged into Air France), Airbus, the French civil aviation authority DGAC and air traffic control. All are indicted under the charge of involuntarily causing death and injuries. The court is expected to release its final judgment on 7 November.
The aircraft was en route from Lyons to Strasbourg when the A320 struck a ridge at around 2,620ft (800m) while attempting a VOR/DME approach to runway 05.
The accident report was published in 1994 and included several safety recommendations. At the time, it was not mandatory to install a ground proximity warning system in French aircraft, and the A320 did not have the system.
French graphic artist Michel Leconte has published a simulation of the last moments of the flight (see below). On approach, in cloud cover, the aircraft rolls left on the approach axis before performing a rapid descent. The crew attempted to correct the roll, but were unable to slow the speed of the descent and F-GGED struck Mount La Bloss, around 0.8nm (1.5km) to the left of the approach path, 10.5nm from the runway.
The accident killed 87 passengers onboard the A320-100 when it crashed at La Bloss, in Barr commune at 19:20 on 20 January 1992. Only nine people onboard the aircraft (F-GGED) survived.
Fourteen years later on 2 May, a trial started at the Colmar correctional court of six officials comprising lead personnel from Air Inter (now merged into Air France), Airbus, the French civil aviation authority DGAC and air traffic control. All are indicted under the charge of involuntarily causing death and injuries. The court is expected to release its final judgment on 7 November.
The aircraft was en route from Lyons to Strasbourg when the A320 struck a ridge at around 2,620ft (800m) while attempting a VOR/DME approach to runway 05.
The accident report was published in 1994 and included several safety recommendations. At the time, it was not mandatory to install a ground proximity warning system in French aircraft, and the A320 did not have the system.
French graphic artist Michel Leconte has published a simulation of the last moments of the flight (see below). On approach, in cloud cover, the aircraft rolls left on the approach axis before performing a rapid descent. The crew attempted to correct the roll, but were unable to slow the speed of the descent and F-GGED struck Mount La Bloss, around 0.8nm (1.5km) to the left of the approach path, 10.5nm from the runway.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
