| Date: | Tuesday 1 September 1953 |
| Time: | 23:30 |
| Type: |  Lockheed L-749A Constellation |
| Owner/operator: | Air France |
| Registration: | F-BAZZ |
| MSN: | 2674 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1951 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 6504 hours |
| Engine model: | Wright R-3350 (749C18BD1) Cyclone |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 42 / Occupants: 42 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Mont Le Cimet -
 France
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Paris-Orly Airport (ORY/LFPO) |
| Nice Airport (NCE/LFMN) |
A Lockheed L-749A Constellation, F-BAZZ, was destroyed when it crashed into the side of Mont Le Cimet (3020 m), 80 km northwest of Nice, France. All 33 passengers and nine crew members were killed. Among the passengers a famous French violinist, Jacques Thibaud.
The airplane operated on an Air France service from Paris to Saigon. En route stops were planned at Nice (NCE), Beirut (BEY), Baghdad, Karachi (KHI) and Calcutta (CCU).
The airplane had initiated its descent for Nice when it struck the mountainside. Investigators concluded that the flight had deviated from the planned course for unknown reasons. The flight to Nice was planned via Montélimar, 150 km west of Mont Le Cimet. Over Montélimar it should have turned southeast for Nice.
Sources:
Photos of the accident scene at Le Cimet in 2009
Disaster in the air / Edgar A. Haine
Location
Revision history:
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