SEA SEARCH; DEBRIS IN WATER; BELONGINGS INTO BOAT; SEARCH VESSELS; FLOATING WRECKAGE.




Initials GHB/V/CCT/SGM



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Background: ALL 89 PASSENGERS AND SIX CREW WERE TONIGHT FEARED LOST WITH THE FRENCH CARAVELLE JETLINER WHICH PLUNGED INTO THE MEDITERRANEAN THIS MORNING SHORTLY BEFORE IT WAS DUE TO LAND AT NICE AIRPORT. RESCUE WORKERS WERE TONIGHT PICKING UP MUTILATED BODIES, LINE JACKETS AND PERSONAL POSSESSIONS FROM THE SEA OFF THE RIVIERA.

THE AIRCRAFT, WHICH WAS ON A FLIGHT FROM MARSEILLES TO AJACCIO IN CORSICA AND NICE, WAS BELIEVED TO HAVE EXPLODED SECONDS AFTER THE PILOT RADIOED THAT AN ENGINE WAS ON FIRE.

AMONG THE PASSENGERS, WHO INCLUDED 13 CHILDREN AND BABIES, WAS RETIRED GENERAL RENE COGNY, 68, A COMMANDER IN INDO-CHINA AT THE TIME OF THE 1954 FALL OF DIEN BIEN PHU.

NICE AIRPORT WAS A SCENE OF DESOLATION TONIGHT AS NAVAL HELICOPTERS CAME AND WENT FERRYING DIVER TO THE DISASTER AREA. GRIEF-STRICKEN RELATIVES WERE STILL WAITING IN THE HOPE THAT SURVIVORS MIGHT STILL BE FOUND.

SECONDS BEFORE DISASTER OVERTOOK THE FLIGHT, THE PILOT RADIOED NICE CONTROL THAT ONE ENGINE WAS ON FIRE. THEN SILENCE, AND THE AIRCRAFT VANISHED FROM RADAR SCREENS SCANNING THE AREA ALONG THE COAST.

RAIN AND LOW CLOUD HAMPERED THE AIR SEA SEARCH WHICH INVOLVED CONSTELLATION AIRCRAFT, HELICOPTERS, WARS ??? AND COASTAL RESCUE LAUNCHES. ONE PILOT REPORTED SEEING PIECES OF THE AIRCRAFT STILL BURNING ON THE SURFACE TWO HOURS AFTER THE COAST.

AN AIR FRANCE SPOKESMAN SAID IT WAS BELIEVED THAT ALL THE PASSENGERS WERE FRENCH. THE AIRCRAFT WAS ONE OF THE LATEST MODELS OF THE HIGHLY-SUCCESSFUL CARAVELLE, FIVE OF WHICH HAVE HAD SERIOUS CRASHES SINCE ITS INTRODUCTION IN 1959.