Air Inter Flight 148
Encyclopedia
Air Inter Flight 148 was a scheduled airline flight on 20 January 1992 that crashed in the Vosges Mountains
, near Mont Sainte-Odile
, while circling to land at Strasbourg Airport
. 87 of the 96 onboard were killed.
Flight 148, commanded by Captain Christian Hecquet and First Officer Joël Cherubin, departed Satolas Airport (now known as Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport) in Lyon
, France
. While being vectored for a VOR DME Approach to Runway 05 at Strasbourg
, it crashed at 19:20:33 CET
(18:20:33 UTC
) in the mountains at an altitude of 2620 feet (798.6 m).
The pilots had no warning of the imminent impact because Air Inter
had not equipped its aircraft with ground proximity warning system
s (GPWS). This was because Air Inter – facing ferocious competition from France's TGV
high-speed trains – encouraged its pilots to fly fast at low level (up to 350 knots below 10,000 feet, while other airlines generally do not exceed 250 knots), and GPWS systems gave too many nuisance warnings.
Flight 148 was the third in a series of crashes caused at least in part by what was believed to be pilots' unfamiliarity with the sophisticated computer system of the Airbus A320
. The Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile
(BEA) believe that Flight 148 crashed because the pilots inadvertently left the autopilot set in Vertical Speed mode (instead of Flight Path Angle mode) then entered "33" for "3.3° descent angle", which the autopilot interpreted as a descent rate of 3300 feet (1,005.8 m) per minute. After the crash, the Airbus autopilot was modified so that a vertical speed setting would be displayed as a four-digit number, preventing confusion with Flight Path Angle mode.
There were other factors that contributed to the crash. When investigators input this descent rate into a flight simulator, the simulated plane did not crash. Further investigation showed that after some small turbulence, a safety feature in the autopilot further increased the descent thus adding to the chain of events that caused the crash.
show Mayday
(known as Air Emergency in Australia, Mayday in North America and Air Crash Investigation in the UK and the rest of world). The episode is entitled "Crashed and Alone."
Text version of final report at the University of Bielefeld
Vosges mountains
For the department of France of the same name, see Vosges.The Vosges are a range of low mountains in eastern France, near its border with Germany. They extend along the west side of the Rhine valley in a northnortheast direction, mainly from Belfort to Saverne...
, near Mont Sainte-Odile
Mont Sainte-Odile
Mont Sainte-Odile is a 760 m peak of the Vosges Mountains in Alsace in France. The mountain is named for Saint Odile...
, while circling to land at Strasbourg Airport
Strasbourg Airport
Strasbourg Airport or Aéroport de Strasbourg is an airport located in Entzheim and 10 km west-southwest of Strasbourg, both communes of the Bas-Rhin département in the Alsace région of France. The number of passengers for 2009 was listed at 1,109,397.-Local Transport:The airport is served by...
. 87 of the 96 onboard were killed.
Flight 148, commanded by Captain Christian Hecquet and First Officer Joël Cherubin, departed Satolas Airport (now known as Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport) in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. While being vectored for a VOR DME Approach to Runway 05 at Strasbourg
Strasbourg Airport
Strasbourg Airport or Aéroport de Strasbourg is an airport located in Entzheim and 10 km west-southwest of Strasbourg, both communes of the Bas-Rhin département in the Alsace région of France. The number of passengers for 2009 was listed at 1,109,397.-Local Transport:The airport is served by...
, it crashed at 19:20:33 CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...
(18:20:33 UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
) in the mountains at an altitude of 2620 feet (798.6 m).
The pilots had no warning of the imminent impact because Air Inter
Air Inter
Air Inter was a semi-public French domestic airline. Before its merger with Air France, the airline was headquartered in Paray-Vieille-Poste, Essonne. Earlier in its life, it was headquartered in the 1st arrondissement of Paris.Air Inter was incorporated on 12 November 1954...
had not equipped its aircraft with ground proximity warning system
Ground Proximity Warning System
A ground proximity warning system is a system designed to alert pilots if their aircraft is in immediate danger of flying into the ground or an obstacle. The United States Federal Aviation Administration defines GPWS as a type of terrain awareness warning system...
s (GPWS). This was because Air Inter – facing ferocious competition from France's TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
high-speed trains – encouraged its pilots to fly fast at low level (up to 350 knots below 10,000 feet, while other airlines generally do not exceed 250 knots), and GPWS systems gave too many nuisance warnings.
Flight 148 was the third in a series of crashes caused at least in part by what was believed to be pilots' unfamiliarity with the sophisticated computer system of the Airbus A320
Airbus A320 family
The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
. The Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile
Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'Aviation Civile
The Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile is an agency of the French government, responsible for investigating aviation accidents and making safety recommendations based on what is learned from those investigations. It is headquartered in Building 153 on the grounds...
(BEA) believe that Flight 148 crashed because the pilots inadvertently left the autopilot set in Vertical Speed mode (instead of Flight Path Angle mode) then entered "33" for "3.3° descent angle", which the autopilot interpreted as a descent rate of 3300 feet (1,005.8 m) per minute. After the crash, the Airbus autopilot was modified so that a vertical speed setting would be displayed as a four-digit number, preventing confusion with Flight Path Angle mode.
There were other factors that contributed to the crash. When investigators input this descent rate into a flight simulator, the simulated plane did not crash. Further investigation showed that after some small turbulence, a safety feature in the autopilot further increased the descent thus adding to the chain of events that caused the crash.
Dramatization
The story of the disaster was featured on the ninth season of Canadian National Geographic ChannelNational Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
show Mayday
Mayday (TV series)
Mayday, also known as Air Crash Investigation in the United Kingdom, Australia and Asia and Air Emergency and Air Disasters in the United States, is a Canadian documentary television programme produced by Cineflix investigating air crashes, near-crashes and other disasters...
(known as Air Emergency in Australia, Mayday in North America and Air Crash Investigation in the UK and the rest of world). The episode is entitled "Crashed and Alone."
See also
- Air France Flight 296Air France Flight 296Air France Flight 296 was a chartered flight of a new fly-by-wire Airbus A320-111 operated by Air France. On June 26, 1988, it was flying over Mulhouse-Habsheim Airport as part of an air show. The low-speed fly-by was supposed to take place at with landing gear down at an altitude of 100 feet...
- Indian Airlines Flight 605Indian Airlines Flight 605Flight 605 was a flight on 14 February 1990 that crashed on its final approach to Bangalore airport, killing 92 people.The flight, IC-605, took off from Mumbai at 11:58 for a flight to Bangalore. At 12:25 Bangalore approach was contacted and prevailing weather at Bangalore was passed on to the crew...
- Airblue Flight 202Airblue Flight 202Airblue Flight 202 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight which crashed on 28 July 2010 near Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, killing all 146 passengers and six crew on board. It is the deadliest air accident to occur in Pakistan to date...
- American Airlines Flight 965American Airlines Flight 965American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757 registered , was a scheduled flight from Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali, Colombia, which crashed into a mountain in Buga, Colombia on December 20, 1995, killing 151 passengers and 8...
- Crossair Flight 3597Crossair Flight 3597Crossair Flight LX 3597 was an Avro RJ100 regional airliner, registration HB-IXM, on a scheduled flight from Berlin, Germany to Zurich, Switzerland that crashed during its approach to land at Zurich Airport on 24 November 2001...
, a similar CFIT crash caused by violating Minimum Safe Altitude
External links
"RAPPORT de la commission d'enquête sur l'accident survenu le 20 janvier 1992 près du Mont Sainte-Odile (Bas Rhin) à l'Airbus A 320 immatriculé F-GGED exploité par la compagnie Air Inter." - Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation CivileBureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'Aviation Civile
The Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile is an agency of the French government, responsible for investigating aviation accidents and making safety recommendations based on what is learned from those investigations. It is headquartered in Building 153 on the grounds...
Text version of final report at the University of Bielefeld