What happened
On the morning of the accident, the Boeing SA.307 Stratoliner, registered F-BELZ, completed a flight from Nice to Bastia, arriving at 05:25 UTC. Later that day, at 11:49 UTC, the aircraft departed Bastia for a second leg toward Ajaccio via Corsica. The flight was cleared to fly at an altitude of FL120, with an expected arrival time in Ajaccio of 12:20 UTC.
The final communication from the flight crew occurred at 12:09 UTC, during which they acknowledged weather and runway updates from Ajaccio Approach. Three minutes later, the aircraft struck a sheer rock face on Monte Renoso, located approximately 45 km from the Ajachi VOR. The impact took place at an altitude of 2,285 meters, roughly 50 meters below the mountain's peak. Following the collision, the plane bounced off the rock and tumbled approximately 100 meters down the slope. The crash resulted in 25 fatalities, including members of a basketball team traveling to a national championship. The aircraft was completely destroyed.
Findings
Investigations determined that several operational failures contributed to the disaster. The crew failed to adequately prepare for the flight and incorrectly estimated the necessary flight duration. Furthermore, the pilots did not adhere to the cruising altitude specified in their flight plan and neglected to properly monitor the aircraft's navigation, leading to a significant error in determining their position. This resulted in an unauthorized premature descent into instrument flight conditions without maintaining safe altitude.
Contributing factors included inadequate oversight by the operator and insufficient routing instructions for the Bastia-Ajaccio segment. The investigation noted that the provided instructions were dangerous because they lacked specific altitude requirements for the turning point and suggested a flight time that made maintaining safety altitudes impossible. Additionally, while flight time regulations were met, the crew had been subject to strenuous activity in the days leading up to the accident.