1967 Air Ferry DC-4 accident

1967 Air Ferry DC-4 accident
A DC-4 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date 3 June 1967
Summary Controlled flight into terrain
Site Canigou mountain, France
Aircraft
Aircraft type Douglas DC-4
Operator Air Ferry
Registration G-APYK
Flight origin Manston Airport, United Kingdom
Destination Perpignan Airport, France
Passengers 83
Crew 5
Fatalities 88

The 1967 Air Ferry DC-4 accident occurred on the 3 June 1967 when a Douglas DC-4 registered G-APYK on a non-scheduled charter flight between Manston Airport in Kent, England and Perpignan Airport in France hit the Canigou mountain in France killing all 88 on board.[1] Cause of the accident was determined to be carbon monoxide poisoning of the flight crew due to a faulty cabin heater.[2]

Accident

The flight was the first leg of a 15-day package holiday to the Costa Brava organised by Lyons Tours with 83 passengers and five crew.[3] At 10:04, the aircraft reported to Air Traffic Control at Perpignan that all was well, visibility was good and that they were beginning to descend. A few minutes later, the aircraft hit the 9,000-foot Mount Canigou to the south-west of Perpignan.[3] The aircraft was destroyed and all 88 onboard were killed.[3]

Aircraft

The Douglas DC-4 aircraft had been built as a C-54A Skymaster for the United States Army Air Forces in 1942.[4] It had been imported into the United Kingdom 1960 by Starways and Air Ferry had purchased the aircraft in 1963. The airframe had flown 42,300 hours at the time of the last maintenance check.[4]

Investigation

The investigation by the French Ministry of Transport into the accident concluded that the collision with the mountainside was a result of a series of errors by the crew, but that the irrational behavior of the crew was caused by carbon monoxide intoxication from a faulty heater. The investigators also mentioned language difficulties between the aircraft and the Perpignan controller, and that radio directional finding equipment was not used to determine the aircraft's location may have aggravated the circumstances.[2]

References

  1. ↑ description for G-APYK at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2009-08-17.
  2. 1 2 "PerpignanL CO Poisoning ? - French Report on Air Ferry DC-4 accident". Flight. 12 December 1958. p. 969.
  3. 1 2 3 "Disaster Weekend for British Aviation". The Times (56959). London. 5 June 1967. p. 1.
  4. 1 2 "Grounding DC-4s plan rejected". The Times (56960). London. 6 June 1967. p. 2.

Coordinates: 42°31′42.2″N 2°23′57.0″E / 42.528389°N 2.399167°E / 42.528389; 2.399167

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