Nord 2501 Noratlas
Safety Rating
9.2/10Total Incidents
33
Total Fatalities
280
Incident History
French Air Force - Armée de l'Air
The aircraft departed Djibouti City on a local paratroopers training mission. While flying by night, the airplane struck the slope of Mt Garbi (1,700 meters high) located northwest of Assal Lake. The aircraft was totally destroyed upon impact and all 36 occupants were killed, among them seven officers, five non-commissioned officers, one Navy officer, 23 Corporals and legionaries. Crew: Cmd Dalmasso, Cmd Couillaud, Cpt Taddéï, Cpt Demange.
ATESA - Aero Taxis Ecuatorianos
Crashed in unknown circumstances while approaching Shell Mera-Río Amazonas Airport. Both pilots were killed.
French Air Force - Armée de l'Air
Crashed in unknown circumstances in Royan. There were no casualties.
French Air Force - Armée de l'Air
At 1000LT on November 24, the airplane departed Hyères-Le Palyvestre NAS near Toulon on a flight to Mont-de-Marsan Airbase, carrying 28 passengers and a crew of four. The passengers were respectively 23 Marines from the Naval School of Saint-Mandrier, four officers and the Director of the Naval School's house. All four crew members were attached to the Groupe 3/64 Bigorre at Évreux AFB. All of them were invited at Mont-de-Marsan Airbase to assist to the final of a radiophonic tournament they lost on semi-final. At 0100LT on November 25, the airplane departed Mont-de-Marsan Airfield bound to the east. En route, the crew encountered very bad weather conditions with fog and rain falls, reducing the visibility to zero. In such conditions, the crew failed to realize his altitude was too low when the airplane passed over the hamlet of La Sicarderie at a height of 150 meters. Less than 30 seconds later, the airplane struck trees and crashed in flames in a wooded area located in the Somail Mountain Range, about 40 km northwest of Béziers. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 32 occupants were killed. Crew (Groupe 3/64 Bigorre from Évreux AFB): Cpt Philippe Le Goff, Sgt/C Robert Sonier, Sgt/C Jean-Claude Bezanger, Sgt/C Serge Luckel. Passengers (accompanist officers): Cpt Raymond Faucher, Mrs Elisabeth Boissat, Director of the GEM House, Ens/V Francis Coinsin, Asp Louis Rimbaud, M/Pr Luc Kuntz. Passengers (Marines members of the Bagad du Groupe d’Écoles de Mécaniciens (GEM) de Saint-Mandrier): M/Mec Pierre Nadal, 2nd M/Mec Joël Quentel, 2nd M/Mec Alain Bouydron, QM/Mec Philippe Janin, QM/Mec Philippe Orliac, QM/Mec Louis Tanguy, QM/Mec Alain Ducasse, M/Mec Patrick Mira, M/Mec François Chotard, M/Mec Didier Le Goff, M/Mec Jean-Marie Rambaud, M/Mec Christian Dreau, M/Mec Claude Lecoustaouec, M/Mec Joël Jaffres, M/Mec Guy Le Doussal, M/Eq Jean-Marc Mule, Mat Ben Ah-Mi, App/Mec Alain Montas, App/Mec Pascal Le Gall, App/Mec Dominique Le Goff, APP/Mec Eric Descarcin, App/Mec Didier Terrec, App/Mec Alain Scouarnec.
Portuguese Air Force - Força Aerea Portuguesa
While approaching Tancos AFB, the airplane went out of control and crashed in flames in a field located 6 km west of the airfield. All eight occupants, among them three pilots, were killed.
French Air Force - Armée de l'Air
While in a liaison flight on behalf of 01/062 Vercors Squadron, the twin engine airplane struck the slope of Monte San Petru (1,400 meters high) located three km southeast of Petreto-Bicchisano, Corsica. The aircraft was destroyed and all four crew members were killed. Crew: Cdt Yvon Mussetta, Cpt Jean Bombes de Villiers, Adj Albert Rougies, Sgt Patrick Steffen.
Hellenic Air Force - Elleniki Polemiki Aeroporia
Greek troops were deployed in Cyprus following the Turkish invasion. While on a night approach to Nicosia Airport under callsign 'Niki 4', the airplane was mistakenly shot down by Greek soldiers based by the airport and crashed in flames 3 km short of runway. A passenger was injured while 31 other occupants were killed.
Portuguese Air Force - Força Aerea Portuguesa
Crashed in unknown circumstances. Crew fate remains unknown.
Portuguese Air Force - Força Aerea Portuguesa
On approach to Mueda Airport, the crew encountered marginal weather conditions with low clouds and limited visibility. The pilot-in-command descended too low on final when the airplane struck the ground and crashed short of runway 16 threshold. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 11 occupants were killed, among them two civilians and two officers.
Israeli Air Force - Heyl Ha'avir
Parked on apron, the airplane was completing an engine run with three technicians on board. The airplane jumped over the chocks, rolled for few meters before colliding with a concrete wall. All three occupants were injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
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Safety Profile
Reliability
Reliable
This rating is based on historical incident data and may not reflect current operational safety.
