| Iberia Flight 504 Spantax Flight 400 | |
| Date: | 5 March 1973 |
| Type: | Mid-air collision caused by ATC error |
| Occurrence Type: | Accident |
| Site: | Nantes, France |
| Coordinates: | 47.0161°N -1.4343°W |
| Total Fatalities: | 68 |
| Total Survivors: | 107 |
| Plane1 Image: | Iberia Douglas DC-9-32.jpg |
| Plane1 Image Upright: | 1.2 |
| Plane1 Caption: | EC-BYJ, the aircraft similar to the one involved |
| Plane1 Type: | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32[1] |
| Plane1 Operator: | Iberia |
| Plane1 Iata: | IB504 |
| Plane1 Icao: | IBE504 |
| Plane1 Callsign: | IBERIA 504 |
| Plane1 Tailnum: | EC-BII |
| Plane1 Origin: | Palma de Mallorca Airport |
| Plane1 Destination: | London Heathow |
| Plane1 Occupants: | 68 |
| Plane1 Passengers: | 61 |
| Plane1 Crew: | 7 |
| Plane1 Fatalities: | 68 |
| Plane1 Survivors: | 0 |
| Plane2 Image: | Spantax Convair 990A (30A-5) AN0094550.jpg |
| Plane2 Image Upright: | 1.2 |
| Plane2 Caption: | The Spantax Convair 990 involved in the accident |
| Plane2 Type: | Convair 990 Coronado |
| Plane2 Operator: | Spantax |
| Plane2 Iata: | BX400 |
| Plane2 Icao: | BXS400 |
| Plane2 Callsign: | SPANTAX 400 |
| Plane2 Tailnum: | EC-BJC |
| Plane2 Origin: | Madrid-Barajas Airport |
| Plane2 Destination: | London Heathrow |
| Plane2 Occupants: | 107 |
| Plane2 Passengers: | 99 |
| Plane2 Crew: | 8 |
| Plane2 Fatalities: | 0 |
| Plane2 Injuries: | 0 |
| Plane2 Survivors: | 107 |
The 1973 Nantes mid-air collision occurred when two airliners travelling to London Heathrow airport hit each other over Nantes, France, on 5 March 1973. They were an Iberia McDonnell Douglas DC-9 flying from Palma de Mallorca and a Spantax Convair 990 from Madrid. All 68 people on board the DC-9 were killed. The CV-990 was able to make a successful emergency landing at Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base.[2]
The first aircraft involved in the collision was a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, with serial number 47077, and registered as EC-BII. It was built by McDonnell Douglas in 1967 and it had logged about 10852 hours and 45 minutes of flight time and 9452 takeoff and landing cycles. It was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7 engines.[3] [4]
The second aircraft involved was a Convair 990-30A-5 Coronado, with serial number 30-10-22, and registered as EC-BJC. It was built by Convair in 1962 and it had logged about 24775 airframe hours and 1108 takeoff and landing cycles. It was powered by four General Electric CJ805-23 engines.[5]
Flight 504's captain was Cueto Capella, aged 37, who had logged 6612 hours of flight time, 823 of which were on the DC-9. His co-pilot was Lafita Rueda, aged 35, who had logged 3778 hours of flight time, including 2278 hours on the DC-9. The pilot under training was Alcubierre Camacho, aged 29, who had logged 950 hours of flight time, all of which were on the DC-9.
Flight 400's captain was Arenas Rodriguez, aged 39, who had logged 8555 hours and 24 minutes of flight time, including 4861 hours and 5 minutes on the CV-990. His co-pilot was Saavedra Martinez, aged 39, who had logged 9501 hours and 47 minutes of flight time, 1790 hours and 16 minutes of which were on the CV-990. The flight engineer was Gonzales Zaraus, aged 37, who had logged 5093 hours and 31 minutes of flight time.
Iberia flight 504, a scheduled service from Palma de Mallorca, and Spantax flight 400, a charter flight from Madrid, were both traversing France en route to London Heathrow. They were guided by French military Air Traffic Control as the country's civilian air traffic controllers were on strike.[6] The Iberia DC-9 was due to reach the Nantes VOR point at 12:52 at flight level 290 (29,000 feet) and the Spantax Convair CV-990 was scheduled to reach it at 13:00 at the same level. Both aircraft had received instructions from Marina sector Air Traffic Control at the French Air Force base in Mont-de-Marsan, who asked them to contact Menhir sector ATC at the French Air Force base in Brest. The Spantax aircraft was on the boundary between the sectors and had difficulty hearing Marina ATC, also receiving no reply to two requests to circle to avoid arriving at the Nantes VOR before 13:00 GMT. The crew decided to start the manoeuvre without ATC authorisation and while in cloud collided with the Iberia DC-9 at 12:52 GMT. The DC-9 lost control, exploded, and broke up in mid-air before crashing to the ground.[6]
The CV-990 managed to land at Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base with damage to its left wing.[7] A survivor, Betty Barrett, later recounted:
All 61 passengers and seven crew of the Iberia flight were killed, including Michael Jeffery, the former manager of The Animals and Jimi Hendrix.[8] Forty-seven of the dead were British citizens.[6] No-one aboard the Spantax flight was harmed.
The accident was investigated by French air accident body, the Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety. Its report identified difficulties in communication between the flight crew of the Convair CV-990 and air traffic control as well as procedural errors from both parties. The crew's unilateral decision to turn the aircraft brought it into the path of the DC-9. ATC had assumed a time-based separation of the two aircraft at the same flight level.
The event is briefly mentioned in the MSNBC/The Weather Channel documentary series Why Planes Crash, during the first season episode "Collision Course". The episode features an interview with survivor Betty Barrett who shows images of the CV-990's damaged wing after landing.[9]