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39th year  -  N° 326                 Thursday, 21 November 2024         Antwerpen		
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Sunday 26th of June 1988

36 Years Ago They Skimmed the Treetops



3 Die in Air France Flight 296 new Airbus A320-111 crash in Mulhouse–Habsheim Airport, Mulhouse, Alsace, France.

This particular flight was not only the A320's first passenger flight (most of those on-board were journalists and raffle winners) but it was also the first public demonstration of any civilian fly-by-wire aircraft. The low-speed flyover with landing gear down was supposed to take place at an altitude of 30m; instead, the plane performed the flyover at 9,1m, skimmed the treetops of the forest at the end of the runway and crashed. All the passengers survived the initial impact apart from a disabled boy in seat 4F who was unable to move, a girl in seat 8C who was unable to remove her seatbelt (her younger brother had removed his own seatbelt but was carried away by the rush of people before he could help his sister) and a woman who had reached the front door and then returned to help the girl.


More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_296