Crash landing of the Mont Sainte-Odile

The crash landing of the Mont Sainte-Odile is an air crash having taken place the January 20th 1992 with 19:20 min 33 S (French hour), that is to say 18:20 min 33 S (universal hour) killing 87 passengers of a Airbus A320 of the company Air Inter with the locality Bloss, in the commune of Barr, close to Mont Sainte-Odile. Only 9 people survived.

Fourteen years after the facts (the May 2nd 2006), the lawsuit opened in front of the Magistrates' court of Colmar. Six people appeared for " homicides and wounds involontaires" , no person in charge of the helps. The November 7th 2006, the court released the defendants, they do not have " clerk of fault pénale" , i.e. that they did not make a " fault caractérisée" within the meaning of the " Law Fauchon". Nevertheless the civil responsibility of Airbus for a civil wrong related to the design of the cockpit of A-320 and of Air France in its capacity as conveyer was recognized. Started in 1982, the project sets up a Avion strongly computerized, technologically advances some on the American aircraft industry then dominant. To ensure its marketing, Airbus proposes the facility of use of this apparatus, like its reliability. Moreover, the computer is regarded as surer than the spirit of the pilots, thus bringing to privilege the action of the data processing of edge on that of the crew. However, several plane crashes implying the Airbus A320, with Habsheim and Bangalore take place, but for which the pilots are blamed, avoiding with the manufacturer knowing a disappointment, the safety of its apparatuses being one of its main arguments of sale.

The plane

It is about a A320-111 Airbus registered F-GGED, delivered to Air Inter in 1988. It is equipped with engines CFM56-5-A1 built in co-operation by General Electric and SNECMA, and marketed by their company common CFMI.

The crew

the commander: 48 years old, it accumulated 8806 hours of vol. On an Airbus has 320, its experiment is 162 hours.
the copilot, 37 years old: he has behind him 3615 hours of vol. On Airbus has 320, he stole 61 hours.

Flight

The plane ensured a connection between the Lyon-Satolas airport and that of Strasbourg-Entzheim. The plane takes off of Lyon-Saint Exupery on January 20th, 1992 towards 17:20 (YOU). On board: 90 passengers, 2 team members technique, 4 team members commercial. In approach, the sky is cloudy. The plane deviates towards the left from the axis from approach and operates a very fast, abnormal descent. The crew tries to correct the error of axis of approach but does not realize of the problem of the rate of descent. The plane is crushed against the mount Bloss with 18:20: 33 (YOU), at an altitude close to 800 meters (2620 feet), with approximately 0,8 thousand nautical (1500 m) on the left of the axis of approach and with 10,5 nautical miles (19,5 km) of the threshold of track.

The coordinates of the crash landing are.

Helps

The hours are in YOU. For the time being French, to add one hour.

18:31, alarm is given by the approach of Strasbourg, which prevents the center of coordination and rescue (RCC) of Drachenbronn, the control center of Rheims (CRNA Is) and the prefecture of the the Low-Rhine (18h34).
18:34: The RCC starts plan SATER/2 near the prefecture. The zone of research relates to the Mont Sainte-Odile.
18:40: launching of the Plane red. Creation of an operational headquarters (PCO) installed with the gendarmerie squad of Barr.
18:41 the RCC requires the restitution of the recording of the radar of Drachenbronn, of the similar provisions are taken by the CRNA Is. The restitution is availability of the RCC respectively only to 20:10 and 22:04, because of the means of restitution of the trajectories existing radar in these centers at the date of the accident, and the procedures in force as for their implementation. These elements make it possible the RCC to reduce only slowly the zone of research as defined in 19:09 then 19:30.
19:09: The prefecture, at the request of the RCC, starts SATER/3. Research extends in a sector ranging between the Mont Sainte-Odile and Andlau.
19:13: Takeoff of a Alouette III of the Civil security based on the airport of Strasbourg-Entzheim. It makes visual research, but which relates to neither the Mont Sainte-Odile nor Bloss.
19:30: The research sector is widened: it is located from now on between the Mont Sainte-Odile, Barr, Andlau, Hohwald.
20:45: According to the indications given to the PCO by two agents of Air Inter on the point flown over by A320 at the time of its last radio operator contact (Breitenbach), three zones of searchs for 3 km on side are defined. The N°1 zone, priority was centered on Bloss. It was a question of engaging the forces of member of the anti-riot polices there as they were able in order to make research in this sector with the assistance of the firemen and the guides of the Vosgean Club. The deployment of the various research teams in this zone was carried out 21:00 with 21:35.
Of the civilians having made research with their own initiative discovers the survivors and the carcass of the apparatus.
a team of journalists goes on the place of the crash landing and informs the gendarmes of his site.
Thanks to these indications, the group of anti-riot police joined the place with 22:35. The gendarmes bring first aid. Four people are evacuated by the gendarmes because considered to be transportable.
Seven other people were evacuated between 23:20 and 0:15 by identical means. Some of them were examined and médicalisées on the site by army medical officers.
the second rescue party coming from Obernai via Ottrott arrived approximately 45 minutes after the first. The progression is complicated by the bad condition of the roads and their obstruction of with the surge of idlers. The installation of the vehicles is made difficult by the presence of many other vehicles (other helps, service of order, idlers, journalists). While assembling towards the site of the accident the doctors and first-aid workers cross the downward column. The casualties are then taken charges some on stretchers by this second column and transferred onto the secondary road where the ambulances are.
Approximately 1:30: beginning of the evacuations towards the hospitals of the area.

Many critics were formulated as for the delay of the helps. It appears that the definition of a too broad perimeter of research, with 19:30, is partly in question: requiring a great number of men for research, it obliged the authorities to await the concentration of sufficient manpower to leave on the ground. The helps, once started, are delayed by an encumbered road of idlers. 4:30 run out between the crash landing and their arrival, which is enormous. During this amount of time, several survivors will die.

Assessment

Surviving: 8 passengers, plus a team member. Several survivors in hypothermia die in the hours following the accident.
Dead: 82 passengers, 5 team members.

Causes of the accident

the navigation system VOR is blamed: Several failures of this apparatus were announced in addition. The shift between the axis and the plane is such as a misreading of the crew is excluded.
the air-traffic controller who gave ambiguous indications. Moreover it puts an end to guidance radar before the apparatus is established on the trajectory of final approach and without to have informed the crew of the end of guidance Radar.
the absence of alarm of proximity of ground (GPWS): This apparatus gave sometimes false alarms. Air Inter thus decided not to use this instrument. Air Inter was one of the rare French companies not to have a GPWS on planes such as those aimed by standard ICAO. The Head office of the civil aviation had in addition abstained from transposing in the French regulation the provisions of appendix 6, section 6.15 of the Convention of Chicago which enacts that " all the turboshaft engine planes whose maximum mass on takeoff certified exceeds 15.000 kg or who are authorized to transport more than thirty people will be equipped with a proximity warning system of the sol" .
a confusion related to a button being used to choose two different modes: angle of descent (mode FPA - Flight Path Angle) or vertical speed (mode VS - Vertical Speed). Following a confusion, the pilot records on the trip computer " 33" , believing to be in mode FPA whereas it is in mode VS. Instead of choosing an angle of descent of 3,3°, it chooses a speed of descent of 3300 feet/minute (instead of 800 feet/minute). The plane then operates a too fast descent ata rate of four times superior to the normal level (3300 feet/minute instead of 800-900 feet/minute).

To read the dismissal order in front of the Magistrates' court of Colmar

Continuations of the accident

February 4th 1992: creation of association Helps Catastrophe Heights of the Holy-Odile (ECHO).
January 18th 1993: first setting in examination: Jacques Rantet.
June 3rd 1993: 2nd setting in examination: Daniel Cauvin.
December 16th 1993: the Monnier report is published.
December 6th 1994: complaint against the DGAC and the center of Drachenbronn.
January 3rd 1995: first report/ratio of Venet and Jean Belotti.
January 18th 1995: 4 new settings in examination: Pierre-Henri Gourgeon and Claude Frantzen, Auguste Gayte, tally of Air Inter, Eric Lammari, air-traffic controller.
November 24th 1995: supplementary report.
11 and July 13rd 1996: the experts in charge of a complementary expertise are opposed.
March 18th 1997: Bernard Ziegler compared with the Court of Bankruptcy of Colmar.
March 9th 2001: assignment of association ECHO against the French State for excessive slowness of justice.
March 13rd 2001: publication of a counter-evaluation affirming that the VOR is not the determining cause of crushing justice.
August 31st 2001 Guichard Judge leaves his functions with the Court of Colmar. It is replaced by Madam Charre Judge.
February 2002: Charre judge is replaced by André Schmidt.
January 13rd 2006: association ECHO deposits its request at the European Court of the Human rights.
May 2nd 2006: opening of the lawsuit.
November 7th 2006: release of the defendants, but a civil wrong is retained against the originator of the plane, Bernard ZIEGLER, and AIRBUS is declared responsible, jointly with Air France, coming to the rights of AIR INTER, of the damage undergone by the victims.

Internal bonds

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