What happened
During a routine liaison mission, the aircraft experienced a sudden loss of control while flying over a remote desert region near Misérié in western Chad. Unable to recover from the incident, the airplane descended rapidly and impacted the ground. The crash site was located in an unpopulated area, and the impact force caused the airframe to be totally destroyed. There were no survivors among the personnel on board; all 11 occupants perished in the accident.
The crew complement consisted of two pilots, a navigator, a bombadier, a flight engineer, a radio operator, and four air gunners. A single passenger was also present in the aircraft at the time of the crash. The nature of the terrain prevented any immediate rescue efforts, as the structural integrity of the plane was completely compromised upon impact.
Findings
Investigations into the incident focused on determining why the aircraft went out of control during level flight. Official findings indicated that the loss of control was likely triggered by an in-flight structural failure. The specific origin or root cause of this structural compromise could not be definitively identified due to the extent of the damage and the remote location of the crash site.