Brazzaville – Bangui – Fort Lamy – Marseille – Paris

On May 10, 1961 at 01:12 AM, Brazzaville – Bangui – Fort Lamy – Marseille – Paris experienced a crash involving Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, operated by Air France, with the event recorded near Zarzaitine-In Amenas Illizi.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a desert crash site.

78 people were known to be on board, 78 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 9, crew fatalities: 9, passengers on board: 69, passenger fatalities: 69, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is terrorism act, hijacking, sabotage. While cruising by night at an altitude of 20,000 feet vertical to the Sahara Desert, the airplane disintegrated in the air and crashed in a desert area located in the east part of Algeria, at the border with Libya. The crew was unable to send any distress call. The debris were scattered on a wide area between Ghadamès (Libya) and Zarzaïtine, Algeria. All 78 occupants were killed in the crash. Crew: Mr. Bouchier, pilot, Mr. Best, copilot, Mr. Baylion, navigator, Mr. Guntz, radio operator, Mr. Gambart de Lignières, mechanic, Mr. Burgaut, mechanic, Mrs. Chiapolino, stewardess, Mr. Eichelberger, steward, Mr. Pasqueron, steward.

Aircraft reference details include registration F-BHBM, MSN 1027, year of manufacture 1957.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 28.0554°, 9.6440°.