Air France Flight 007

Air France Flight 007 crashed on 3 June 1962 while on take-off from Orly Airport. The only survivors of the disaster were two flight attendants; the other eight crew members, and all 122 passengers on board were killed. The crash was at the time the worst single-aircraft disaster and the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 707.

Accident

According to witnesses, during the takeoff roll on runway 8, the nose of Flight 007 lifted off the runway, but the main landing gear remained on the ground. Though the aircraft had already exceeded the maximum speed at which the takeoff could be safely aborted within the remaining runway length, the flight crew attempted to abort the take off.

With less than 3000 ft of runway remaining, the pilots used the wheel brakes and reverse thrust to stop the 707. They braked so hard that they blew the main landing gear tires and destroyed the undercarriage in an attempt to ground loop. The aircraft went off the end of the runway and plowed into the town of Villeneuve-le-Roi, where a fire broke out. Three flight attendants initially survived the disaster, but one died in a hospital. At the time, it was the world's worst air disaster involving one aircraft. This death toll would be surpassed over 3.5 years later, when in February 1966, All Nippon Airways Flight 60 crashed into Tokyo Bay for reasons unknown, killing all 133 people.