Investigation Summary
The flight originated in Budapest and made a scheduled stop in Frankfurt, where the crew spent two hours reviewing weather reports that indicated fog, stratus clouds, and potential icing in the Paris area. During the final approach to Le Bourget, there was some confusion regarding navigation waypoints, with the controller correcting the crew's heading from waypoint BN to BE. The aircraft was eventually cleared for an ILS approach to runway 25. At 14:05:30, the crew reported being over waypoint BE at 1,800 feet. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft entered a stall while in a landing configuration with the gear extended and flaps at 30 degrees. Eyewitnesses reported the plane striking high-voltage cables before crashing into a muddy field near Roissy-en-France. The impact was followed by an explosion and intense fire. Rescue efforts were severely hampered by the thick mud, which prevented fire vehicles from reaching the site for three hours.
Final Conclusions
The investigation, conducted by the Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) and published in February 1964, concluded that the accident resulted from a stall during the approach. Data provided by Soviet experts indicated the stall pattern was only compatible with a high G-load manoeuvre. However, the Board could not establish why this manoeuvre was performed. At the time of impact, all four engines were operating at nearly full power, suggesting an attempt to recover from the stall or the preceding manoeuvre.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
István Kapitány
First Officer
János Fenesi
Systems & Failure Modes
Ivchenko AI-20A Engines
The four turboprop engines were found to be operating at nearly full power at impact, indicating they were not the primary cause of the stall.
ILS (Instrument Landing System)
The crew was performing an ILS approach to runway 25 due to dense fog and low visibility.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft had flown a total of 2,363 hours at the time of the accident.
- 02The aircraft serial number was 2002.
- 03All 21 occupants, including 13 passengers and 8 crew members, perished in the crash and subsequent fire.
- 04Passengers included Hungarian diplomats traveling to London and French professor Louis Fruhling, a director at the Institute for Pathological Anatomy in Strasbourg.
- 05The crash site was so muddy that fire brigades took three hours to reach the wreckage.
- 06The investigation found the engines were at nearly full power at the moment of impact.
- 07The stall occurred with the landing gear extended and flaps set to 30 degrees.
Location
APPROXIMATE POSITION · AIRPORT LEVEL · Coordinates are the estimate published in the wikidata coordinate. The ring shows the accuracy the record supports, not the point of impact.