Incident Overview
On an unspecified date, an aircraft departed from runway 25 at Paris-Le Bourget Airport. During the initial climb, it collided with a flock of birds. The left engine subsequently failed and exploded. The flight crew declared an emergency and received clearance to return to the airport.
Emergency Landing Attempt
As the aircraft approached for landing on runway 21, the left engine detached. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft pitched nose-down to an angle of 15°, struck the ground near the runway 21 threshold, and crashed. The wreckage slid for 430 meters before coming to rest and bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed by fire, and all 10 occupants were killed, among them the CEO of the food group Saint-Louis.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined the probable cause of the accident to be: "Massive ingestion of 15 birds of the crested lapwing species by the left engine after rotation; uncontrolled damage to this engine due to the failure of its fan rotor overspeed protection system, which led to the aircraft fire. The rapid development of the fire caused the aircraft to lose control in the final phase of the emergency landing attempt."