Air France Flight 296
Airbus A320 - 200 of Air France, the successor of the involved in the accident A320 -100
The Air France Flight 296 was a charter flight of a recently delivered fly- by-wire Airbus A320 -111 of Air France. On 26 June 1988, was planned as part of an air show that the new Airbus over the airfield Mulhouse - Habsheim (not to be confused with the Euro Airport Basel- Mulhouse -Freiburg ) should complete a flyby. He should in front of television cameras at low speed with landing gear and at a height of 100 feet (approx. 30.5m) fly past on the audience. He declined but then further down to 30 feet ( 10 m ), and crashed into the trees behind the runway. Three passengers died. The cause of the accident is disputed, as later irregularities were found. This was the first crash of an Airbus A320.
Official Report
The official report indicates the following causes of the accident:
- Very low altitude, lower than surrounding obstacles (trees )
- Very low velocity so far reduced, to achieve the maximum possible angle of attack
- Engines idling during the flight
- Far too late startup of the turbines at the end of the runway
This causes eventually led to contact with the trees and crashed.
The inquiry commission believes that the descent was not intended to below 100 feet, but is on the non-observance of visual and acoustic information concerning due to the altitude of the aircraft.
Follow
The crash and the resulting fire killed three of the 130 passengers, a woman and two children. The woman wanted to free a child who was caught in the belt. However, this was not, were both passed out from the smoke and no more were released.
The captain, the copilot, two employees of Air France and the president of the flying club, who had sponsored the show, were charged with negligent homicide and negligent assault. All five were found guilty. The captain was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for twelve months on probation, the others were sentenced to probation small. In the appeal hearing the punishment of the captain was increased to ten months plus a further ten months probation. The captain walked free from the courtroom and said he wanted to call the Cour de cassation. For this purpose he had under French law must first incarcerated in prison before the Supreme Court would deal with his case.
Filming
In 2010, the accident was the second episode of season 7 as a pilot vs. Plane in English and as the maiden flight of the A320 in the Canadian television series Mayday - adjusted alarm in the cockpit.