Air France Flight 212 (1968)
Boeing 707-328C · Controlled flight into terrain
From Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) to Paris-Orly Airport (ORY)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 63 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 63
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Boeing 707-328C
- Flight
- AF212
- Aircraft type
- Boeing 707
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- F-BLCJ
- Operator
- Air France
- Onboard fatalities
- 63
- Route
- From Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)To Paris-Orly Airport (ORY)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Personnel issues › Psychological
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
Air France Flight 212 was a scheduled passenger flight from Santiago, Chile to Paris with scheduled stops at Lima, Quito, Bogotá, Caracas, Pointe-à-Pitre, Vila do Porto, and Lisbon. On March 6, 1968, the Boeing 707 operating the flight, named "Chateau de Lavoute Polignac", crashed while approaching Le Raizet Airport in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, killing all 63 occupants of the plane.
Accident
After air traffic control cleared the flight deck crew for a visual approach to Le Raizet Airport’s runway 11, the crew reported having the airfield in sight. Flight 212 began its descent from flight level 090 (approximately 9,000 feet / 2,700 m) and passed over Saint-Claude, Guadeloupe, at about 4,400 feet (1,300 m).
Continuing on a northwesterly course, the aircraft struck Grande Découverte mountain at an altitude of 3,937 feet (1,200 m), 27.5 kilometres (17.1 mi) south-southwest of Le Raizet Airport and roughly 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the main peak of La Grande Soufrière. The crash site lies uphill from Saint-Claude and near the Matouba hot springs.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Accident investigators determined that the probable cause was the initiation of a nighttime visual approach from an incorrectly identified point.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Air France Flight 212 (1968)” (revision 1364983181, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Air France Flight 212 (1968)
- Article
- Air France Flight 212 (1968)
- Revision
- 1364983181 · 2026-07-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4697990
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Air France Flight 212 (1968)" (page 35147749, revision 1364983181)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- airline flight number in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.