Peace in Europe, insecurity in the air
In connection with the end of the Second World War in Europe, which marks its 78th anniversary today, air freight history reminds us of an incident that shows how unsafe aviation still was in the middle of the last century.
The "Gascogne", a Lockheed Constellation (F-BAZC) which had been taken over by Air France less than three months earlier, set off from New York to Paris on 18 February 1947, carrying 5 t of freight, including 2 t of paper relating to the peace treaty.
But on the penultimate leg of the flight, which was to take the aircraft to France via Bermuda, the Azores and Casablanca, a chain of mechanical problems occurred. First, engine 4 caught fire in mid-flight, causing the sheet metal casing of the engine to deform, one of its propellers to detach and also damaged the neighbouring engine 3.
The aircraft managed to reach Morocco at half power, but on approach it turned out that the landing gear flaps were stuck, and the brakes did not work properly, so that the aircraft overshot the runway on landing - but without further damage to cargo, aircraft, or people.
The cause of the incident, which inspired the film "To the Eyes of Memory" starring Michèle Morgan and Jean Marais a year later, was later determined to be the failure of the No. 4 propeller control system. The aircraft was repaired but was decommissioned by Air France in 1950. (ah)