Lockbourne - Gander - Keflavik - Wiesbaden - Marseille - Athens - Amman

On October 27, 1972 at 01:30 PM, Lockbourne - Gander - Keflavik - Wiesbaden - Marseille - Athens - Amman experienced a crash involving Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar, operated by United States Air Force - USAF, with the event recorded near Aulan Drôme.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

5 people were known to be on board, 5 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 5, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The crew was completing a long flight from Lockbourne AFB (Columbus, Ohio) to Amman, Jordan, with intermediate stops in Gander, Keflavik, Wiesbaden, Marseille and Athens. While cruising in poor weather conditions (stormy weather) to the east of the Rhône Valley, the crew failed to realize he was not on the proper flight track, probably due to strong winds gusting from the south. In poor visibility, the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located near the Devès Pass, near Aulan. The aircraft was destroyed and all five crew members were killed. Crew: Francis T. Durkin, pilot, Dale R. Anderson, copilot, Marion R. Meckstoch, navigator, William R. Barbor, mechanic, William L. Champion.

Aircraft reference details include registration 52-5936, MSN 11115.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 44.2226°, 5.4282°.