What happened
On the afternoon of January 20, 1995, a Falcon 20 E, registration F-GHLN, was preparing for a scheduled passenger flight from Le Bourget Airport to Sibiu, Romania. The aircraft, operated by LEADAIR UNIJET, was carrying two pilots, one flight attendant, and seven passengers.
Shortly after 16:30 UTC, the aircraft departed from runway 25. Immediately following rotation, the left engine suffered an uncontained failure triggered by the ingestion of birds. High-velocity engine fragments pierced the fuselage and the aircraft's fuel pods, initiating a significant fire in the aft compartment.
Air traffic controllers observed a bright flash and subsequent flames from the left engine and alerted the crew. While the crew attempted an emergency landing on runway 25, witnesses observed the rear of the aircraft heavily engulfed in flames. The aircraft struck the ground at the intersection of the runways near the threshold of runway 21, sliding approximately 400 meters before the fire consumed the cockpit and cabin. Despite the rapid response from airport fire services, there were 3 fatalities among the passengers.