Malév Flight 355

Malév Hungarian Airlines Flight 355 was a regularly scheduled Malév Hungarian Airlines international flight from Budapest to Paris via a stopover in Frankfurt. The flight was operated by an Ilyushin Il-18V. On 23 November 1962, while on approach to Paris–Le Bourget Airport, the aircraft crashed in Roissy-en-France following a stall.

The plane burned down, and all 21 people on board were killed, including Hungarian diplomats and French professor Louis Fruhling.

Accident

On 23 November 1962 the plane departed at 7:44 (GMT) from Budapest to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt the crew went at 9:50 to the meteorological office for two hours for briefing and checking French weather reports. The pilot noted the frequent occurrences of fog and stratus cloud, and the possibility of light icing. When departing from Frankfurt to Paris there were 13 passengers and crew on board. All passengers boarded in Frankfurt. The last radio contact was at 14:05. At the time it was very foggy in Paris. According to officials the plane initiated the landing on its instruments. During the approach to Paris with the landing gear extended and the engines nearly at full power the airplane crashed at 14:10, 6.1 kilometres east-north-east from the airport near the road from Paris to Soissons.

After impact the airplane exploded with high flames visible. Farmers from the area came to the disaster but could not do anything to help. Due to the heat, it was not possible to approach the airplane. Due to the snow and rain the field was so muddy that vehicles could not reach the disaster site. Because the place was difficult to reach, it took the fire brigade from Le Bourget three hours to arrive at the disaster scene. After the fire brigade extinguished the fire, all bodies could be recovered. Bodies had to be carried 500 meters to the nearest road. Because the bodies were charred, identification took a long time.