1975 Agadir Royal Air Maroc Boeing 707 crash

{{Short description|Passenger plane crash in Agadir, Morocco}}

{{Infobox aircraft occurrence

| name = 1975 Agadir Royal Air Maroc Boeing 707 crash

| date = {{Start date|1975|08|03}}

| summary = Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error

| image = Jordanian World Airways Boeing 707-300 JY-AEE.jpg

| image_upright = 1.15

| caption = JY-AEE, the aircraft involved, seen at Frankfurt Airport, the day before the crash

| occurrence_type = Accident

| site = Near Tamri, Morocco

| coordinates = {{coord|30.586776|N|9.411217|W|display=title,inline}}

| aircraft_type = Boeing 707-321C

| operator = Alia Royal Jordanian on behalf of Royal Air Maroc

| tail_number = JY-AEE

| origin = Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France

| destination = Inezgane Airport, Agadir, Morocco

| occupants = 188

| passengers = 181

| crew = 7

| fatalities = 188

| survivors = 0

}}

On August 3, 1975, Royal Air Maroc chartered a Boeing 707 passenger flight from Le Bourget Airport in Paris to Inezgane Airport in Agadir which crashed into a mountain on approach to Agadir Inezgane Airport, Morocco. All 188 passengers and crew on board were killed. This is the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Boeing 707 and the deadliest in Morocco.

Flight

The 707, owned by Alia Royal Jordanian was chartered by the national airline of Morocco, Royal Air Maroc, to fly Moroccan workers and their families from France home for the holidays. The flight left Le Bourget Airport in Paris shortly after midnight with 181 passengers and 7 crew members and was scheduled to arrive at its destination about 4:30 a.m. The aircraft approached Agadir in the early hours of the morning at the time of the crash. There was heavy fog in the area and the aircraft was flying in from the northeast over the Atlas Mountains. At around 04:25 local time, as the 707 was descending from {{convert|8,000|feet}} for a runway 29 approach, its right wingtip and no. 4 (outer-right) engine struck a peak about {{convert|45|mi|km}} northeast of Agadir at {{convert|2400|ft|m}} altitude. Part of the wing separated. The aircraft lost control and crashed into a valley about {{convert|1800|ft|m}} below.

Local residents of Imzizen, 30 miles northwest of Agadir, had to walk for {{convert|12|mi|km}} to reach a telephone to notify authorities about the crash. Rescue teams arrived by helicopter and found wreckage over a wide area after searching for hours in the thick fog. The extent of the destruction was such that nothing bigger than {{convert|10|sqft|m2|0|order=flip}} in size was found.

At the time of the crash, it was the third deadliest crash in civil aviation history.

= Cause =

The cause of the crash was determined to be pilot error in not ensuring positive course guidance before beginning descent. The aircraft had not followed the usual north-south corridor generally used for flights to Agadir.

References

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite web | url = http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=08031975®=JY-AEE&airline=Alia+Royal+Jordanian+Airlines | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140228064245/http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=08031975®=JY-AEE&airline=Alia+Royal+Jordanian+Airlines | archive-date = 28 February 2014 | url-status=usurped | title = Accident Synopsis 08031975 | website = Airdisaster.com}}

{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19750803-1|title=Accident description|last=Ranter|first=Harro|date=|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=Aviation Safety Network|access-date=}}

{{cite news | url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/685670318 | via = Newspapers.com | title = Morocco Crash Is 3rd Worst In Air History | newspaper = The Lexington Herald | location = Lexington, Kentucky | date = 4 August 1975 | page = 1 | agency = Associated Press and United Press}}

{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/04/archives/188-on-charter-jet-killed-in-moroccan-crash-in-fog-188-die-as-plane.html |title=188 on Charter Jet Killed In Moroccan Crash in Fog |date=August 4, 1975 |access-date=October 4, 2020 |newspaper=The New York Times}}

{{Cite web|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/66318/files/1975-08-04.pdf|title=Un Boeing jordanien s'écrase près d'Agadir. CATASTROPHE AÉRIENNE AU MAROC: 188 MORTS|last=|first=|date=|website=|language=French|trans-title=A Jordanian Boeing crashes near Agadir. AERIAL DISASTER IN MOROCCO: 188 DEATHS|access-date=August 9, 2019}}

}}

{{Portal|Morocco|Jordan|Aviation}}

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1975}}

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Morocco}}

Category:Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain

Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error

Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1975

Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 707

Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Morocco

Category:Royal Air Maroc accidents and incidents

Category:Royal Jordanian accidents and incidents

Category:1975 in Morocco

Category:August 1975 in Africa

Category:1975 disasters in Morocco