The 1973 Nantes mid-air collision occurred when two airliners travelling to
London Heathrow
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...
airport hit each other over
Nantes,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, on 5 March 1973. They were an
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
McDonnell Douglas DC-9
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas.
Afte ...
flying from
Palma de Mallorca to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and a
Spantax
Spantax S.A. was a Spanish leisure airline headquartered in Madrid that operated from 6 October 1959 to 29 March 1988. Spantax was one of the first Spanish airlines to operate tourist charter flights between European and North American cities and ...
Convair 990 from
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. All 68 people on board the DC-9 were killed. The CV-990 was able to make a successful emergency landing at
Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base
Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base (french: Base aérienne 709 Cognac-Châteaubernard or BA 709) is a base of the French Air and Space Force (Armée de l'air et de l'espace) located in Châteaubernard, 2.8 kilometres south of Cognac, France, C ...
.
Crash
Iberia flight 504, a scheduled service from Palma de Mallorca, and Spantax flight 400, a charter flight from Madrid, were both traversing France en route to Heathrow airport in London. They were guided by French military
Air Traffic Control
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
as the country's civilian air traffic controllers were on strike.
The Iberia DC-9 was due to reach the Nantes
VOR
VOR or vor may refer to:
Organizations
* Vale of Rheidol Railway in Wales
* Voice of Russia, a radio broadcaster
* Volvo Ocean Race, a yacht race
Science, technology and medicine
* VHF omnidirectional range, a radio navigation aid used in a ...
point at 12:52 at
flight level
In aviation and aviation meteorology, a flight level (FL) is an aircraft's altitude at standard air pressure, expressed in hundreds of feet. The air pressure is computed assuming an International Standard Atmosphere pressure of 1013.25 hPa ...
290 (29,000 feet) and the Spantax Convair CV-990 was scheduled to reach it at 13:00 at the same level.
Both aircraft had received instructions from Marina sector Air Traffic Control at the French Air Force base in
Mont-de-Marsan
Mont-de-Marsan (; Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a commune and capital of the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France.
Population
Military installations
The French Air and Space Force operates the '' Constantin Roza ...
, who asked them to contact Menhir sector ATC at the French Air Force base in
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
* Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
* Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
** Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Br ...
. The Spantax aircraft was on the boundary between the sectors and had difficulty hearing Marina ATC, also receiving no reply to two requests to circle to avoid arriving at the Nantes VOR before 13:00 GMT. The crew decided to start the manoeuvre without ATC authorisation and while in cloud collided with the Iberia DC-9 at 12:52 GMT. The DC-9 lost control, exploded, and broke up in mid-air before crashing to the ground.
The CV-990 managed to land at Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base with damage to its left wing. A survivor, Betty Barrett, later recounted:
All 61 passengers and 7 crew of the Iberia flight were killed, including
Michael Jeffery
Major General Philip Michael Jeffery, (12 December 1937 – 18 December 2020) was a senior Australian Army officer and vice-regal representative. He was the 28th governor of Western Australia from 1993 to 2000, and the 24th governor-general o ...
, the former manager of
The Animals
The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...
and
Jimi Hendrix.
47 of the dead were British citizens.
No-one aboard the Spantax flight was harmed.
Report
The accident was investigated by French air accident body, the
. Its report identified difficulties in communication between the flight crew of the Convair CV-990 and air traffic control as well as procedural errors from both parties. The crew's unilateral decision to turn the aircraft brought it into the path of the DC-9. ATC had assumed a time-based separation of the two aircraft at the same flight level.
In popular culture
The event is briefly mentioned in the
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...
/
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather foreca ...
documentary series ''
Why Planes Crash
''Why Planes Crash'' was an aviation documentary TV mini-series based on aircraft accidents and crashes. The series was created and named by producer Caroline Sommers, on behalf of NBC Peacock Productions. The series premiere on July 12, 2009, fe ...
'', during the first season episode "Collision Course". The episode features an interview with survivor Betty Barrett and shows images of the damaged CV-990 on landing.
See also
*
List of civilian mid-air collisions
References
External links
* Final accident report,
*
HTML version
*
PDF versionArchive
English translation hosted by the
Air Accidents Investigation Branch
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigates civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and crown dependencies. It is also the Space Accident Investigation Authority (SAIA ...
*
Report PDFArchive
*
AppendicesArchive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nantes Mid-Air Collision
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1973
Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas DC-9
Accidents and incidents involving the Convair 990 Coronado
Mid-air collisions
Mid-air collisions involving airliners
Aviation accidents and incidents in France
Iberia (airline) accidents and incidents
Spantax accidents and incidents
1973 in aviation
March 1973 events in Europe