Incident Overview
On the morning of the accident, an aircraft departed Brussels-Melsbroek Airport for Gütersloh Airbase in Germany. During the approach to Augustdorf, the captain decided to descend to 2,500 feet to conduct a reconnaissance of the Senne military training camp, located approximately 7 kilometers south of Augustdorf. At that time, British troops were engaged in live mortar shell fire exercises in the area.
Sequence of Events
While flying at a low altitude, the aircraft was struck by several mortar shells and subsequently caught fire. Nine passengers were able to bail out of the burning aircraft and were later recovered without injuries. The aircraft, now out of control, entered a dive and crashed in flames, resulting in the deaths of all 38 remaining occupants.
Aftermath
In the days following the accident, it was reported that the aircraft should not have been in that area at that time, as the zone had been previously designated by British troops for scheduled exercises. For reasons that remain unknown, the crew failed to adhere to the prescribed minimum safe altitude, which had been set at 10,000 feet over the area on the day of the accident.