What happened
On the scheduled flight from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport to Paris-Orly Airport, the Boeing aircraft encountered a critical emergency during its descent. While maintaining an altitude of 8,000 feet and navigating toward the OLS VOR, the crew notified Orly approach controllers of an onboard fire. Following this report, the flight crew requested an emergency descent.
As the aircraft descended to 3,000 feet for a straight-in approach to runway 07, conditions inside the cabin deteriorated significantly. Smoke began entering the cockpit, causing visibility issues so severe that the pilots were forced to use oxygen masks and struggled to monitor flight instruments. At approximately 14:03, the pilot executed an emergency landing roughly 5 km before reaching the runway. The aircraft, configured with gear down and flaps at 80 degrees, approached with a notable nose-up attitude and a slight left bank.
Upon impact with a field, the plane struck several small trees and experienced a heavy landing. The collision caused both main landing gears to collapse and resulted in the engines being torn from the airframe, though the fuselage remained structurally intact. All ten crew members on board successfully evacuated the wreckage. However, intense fire reached the roof of the aircraft before emergency responders arrived. Of the four unconscious individuals rescued by firefighters, only one survivor was identified.
Findings
The investigation determined that a fire originated in the washbasin area of the rear right lavatory. This fire was initially detected when smoke drifted into the adjacent left lavatory. The exact ignition source remained uncertain, with possibilities including an electrical malfunction or passenger negligence.
The difficulty in locating the fire's origin rendered cabin crew interventions ineffective. Furthermore, the flight crew lacked the necessary tools to manage the fire's spread from the cockpit. As smoke filled the cabin, passengers and crew suffered varying degrees of poisoning from carbon monoxide and other combustion byproducts. The decision to perform a forced landing was driven primarily by the loss of visibility within the cockpit.