Accident Details
On a local training flight at Nouméa-La Tontouta, the crew was conducting touch-and-go maneuvers. After takeoff, while climbing by night, the crew initiated a turn. The four-engine airplane then struck the slope of Mt Kokoreta at an altitude of 1,002 meters, approximately 10 km east of the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed, and all seven crew members on board were killed.
Crew
The crew consisted of:
- LdV Guy Celton, pilot
- MP Marcel Crusson, copilot
- MP Monroe Podlesnik, mechanic
- 1st M Bernard Lefuraut, mechanic
- 1st M Claude Wullaert, navigator
- 1st M Jean Decoudu, electronics
- M Paul Gavard-Pivet, mechanic
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined that the accident was the consequence of a controlled flight into terrain, consecutive to an error on the part of the crew, who mistakenly initiated a turn opposite to the published procedures for departure.