What happened
During a nighttime charter flight operated for Club Mediterranée, an aircraft crashed into a forested, swampy area located approximately 52 km north of the Cap Skruging Airport runway 14. The flight was transporting 53 passengers from France, Belgium, and Switzerland, along with six crew members. During the descent, the crew initiated an approach based on a mistaken perception of ground lights. The impact with trees led to the total destruction of the aircraft. The accident resulted in 31 fatalities, which included all six members of the flight crew.
Findings
Investigations revealed that the crew mistakenly identified blue lights from a hotel as the approach lighting system for Cap Skirring Airport, leading to a premature and incorrect descent. Several critical issues contributed to the disaster:
- The crew lacked familiarity with the local geography and terrain.
- There was significant evidence of poor flight planning and inadequate coordination among the crew members.
- The aircraft was in a substandard mechanical condition, with at least 16 instruments, including an altimeter, non-functional.
- The crew mistook hotel lights for airport approach lights.
- The aircraft's legal status was irregular, as it was being operated under the registration of a previous operator due to a failure in the official deregistration and re-registration process by the Gambian owner.