Air France Flight 406

Air France Flight 406
	A TWA Starliner similar to the accident aircraft
Bombing
Date	10 May 1961
Summary	Bombing in flight
Site	Sahara Desert
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lockheed L-1649 Starliner
Aircraft name	De Grasse
Operator	Air France
Registration	F-BHBM
Flight origin	Brazzaville, Congo
1st stopover	Fort Lamy Airport, Fort Lamy (now N'Djamena), Chad
Last stopover	Marseille-Marignane Airport, Marseille, France (did not arrive)
Destination	Paris, France
Passengers	69
Crew	9
Fatalities	78
Survivors	0

Air France Flight 406 was a Lockheed L-1649 Starliner that crashed in French Algeria on May 10, 1961, after a bomb exploded on board. All 78 passengers and crew on board were killed. It was the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Lockheed Starliner.^[1]

Flight

Air France Flight 406 was an international scheduled passenger flight originating in Brazzaville, Congo, on a route with the final destination Paris, France. Intermediate stops were Fort Lamy, Chad, and Marseille, France. The flight was flown by a Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, F-BHBM De Grasse.

After taking off from Fort Lamy, and while cruising at an altitude of approximately 20,000 feet (6,100 m), the Starliner broke up after its empennage failed. The plane crashed to earth approximately 35 miles (56 km) from Edjele oilfield, near the Libya border.^[2] All aboard Flight 406 were killed.^[3]

Eighteen children were among the dead. Among them were the three young children of the United States Charge d'Affaires in the Central African Republic, who, along with their mother (the charge's wife), were on Flight 406 headed for London. Also among the dead were a count and countess, plus two Central African Republic government ministers. Rumors began to surface after Flight 406's crash that it had been an assassination by enemies of the Central African Republic.^[4]