Paris – Brindisi – Nicosia – Basra – Hanoi

On January 24, 1954 at 08:56 AM, Paris – Brindisi – Nicosia – Basra – Hanoi experienced a crash involving Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3), operated by Compagnie Autrex-Lopez-Loreta-Le Breton, with the event recorded near Beirut Beirut Governorate.

The flight was categorized as delivery and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

3 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 3 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is other causes. The aircraft, belonging to the Compagnie Autrex-Lopez-Loreta-Lebreton, was on a delivery flight from Paris to Hanoi. It departed from Paris on 22 January 1954 at 0650Z and arrived at Brindisi the same day at 1305Z. The following day the aircraft left Brindisi at 0720Z and landed at Nicosia at 1330Z. From Nicosia the aircraft intended to fly to Basra, but a failure in the HF radio equipment caused a change in the schedule, and it was decided to fly to Beirut where specialists and the spare parts necessary for the repair were available. On final approach by night, the aircraft was too low when, at a speed of 105 knots, it struck a mound of earth located 85 feet short of runway 36, damaging the right mains gear. The aircraft subsequently landed on the runway when the undercarriage collapsed. There were no injuries but the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

Aircraft reference details include registration F-BEFS, MSN 12416, year of manufacture 1944.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 33.8919°, 35.5109°.