1976 Armée de terre SA 330 Puma crash

On 24 March 1976, an SA 330 Puma helicopter of the Armée de terre crashed into the ground. The aircraft had on board eight men, of whom two were pilots and six were legionnaires of the 3rd platoon of the 6th company Groupement Opérationnel de la Légion Étrangère (GOLE), part of the 2e Régiment étranger de parachutistes of the French Foreign Legion, then based in Bonifacio and today in Calvi in Corsica, who were in the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas, independent since 1977 under the name of Djibouti.

The helicopter had departed from Arta and after an exercise at the military firing range at Holhol was due to return to Arta, but it crashed into the ground in the Djadjaboka near Holhol, not far from the border with Somalia. The causes were never established.

Two of the crew members and six legionnaires died in the fire of the helicopter, while one crew member and five legionnaires threw themselves from the burning helicopter and, although seriously burned, survived. A couple of hours after the accident they were transported to France, to a hospital in Paris.