Date:	Monday 10 April 1989
Time:	21:07
Type:	Fairchild FH-227B
Owner/operator:	Europe Aero Service - EAS
Registration:	F-GGDM
MSN:	532
Year of manufacture:	1966
Total airframe hrs:	27249 hours
Cycles:	39128 flights
Engine model:	Rolls-Royce Dart 532-7
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 22 / Occupants: 22
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Léoncel -   France
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:	Paris-Orly Airport (ORY/LFPO)
Destination airport:	Valence-Chabeuil Airport (VAF/LFLU)
Investigating agency:	BEA
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
EAS Flight 602 took off from Paris at 19:55 for a flight to Valance. The aircraft proceeded to Valence at FL130. At 20:43 the flight passed the Lespi intersection and continued on a 133deg heading to the VNE VOR. At 20:49 the aircraft was cleared to descend to FL70 and FL60 when approaching VNE VOR. At 20:56 the FH-227 passed the VNE VOR and was to head 178deg for Valence. The aircraft however continued on a 155deg heading. The heading was changed to 178deg at 21:04. At 21:07 the aircraft struck a mountain (Col de Tourniol) at 1260 m.

PROBABLE CAUSE (translated from original French language report): "The accident is the direct result of a navigational error. This error had the direct causes:
1) the display and use the VOR LSA instead of VNE;
2) an insufficiency in the mental representation of the path of the aircraft despite other available information.
Moreover, the lack of rigor in the division of work in their execution and in the mutual control are contributing factors.
The Committee also noted that the following facts have facilitated the development of a critical situation:
1) documentation of the crew used for navigation and organization of the dashboard of the plane could be sources of error,
2) the organization of the airspace in the region of Valence did not allow optimal use of existing radar;
3) the tasks of the crew were not defined by the operator;
4) the co-pilot had a moderate but significant blood alcohol level."

ICAO Circular 262-AN/156 (102-109) Commission d'Enquete sur l'accident survenu le 10 avril 1989 pres de Valence, commune de Léoncel (26), à l'avion FH227, immatriculé F-GGDM, exploité par la compagnie Uni-Air International

photo (c) Eric De Bruyne; Col de Tourniol; 18 September 2011

photo (c) Werner Fischdick; Paris-Orly Airport (ORY); 07 April 1989

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