page_title: Air France Flight 296
hierarchical_section_title: Air France Flight 296
caption_attribution_description: This Airbus A320-111 took its first flight on September 7, 1988...(c/n 19) 29/10/1988 Air France F-GFKE, stored 12/2009, scrapped by 08/2010
context_page_description: Air France Flight 296 was a chartered flight of a new Airbus A320-111 operated by Air France for Air Charter. On 26 June 1988, it crashed while making a low pass over Mulhouse–Habsheim Airport as part of the Habsheim Air Show. Most of the crash sequence, which occurred in front of several thousand spectators, was caught on video. The cause of the crash has been the source of major controversy.
  This particular flight was the A320's first passenger flight. The low-speed flyover, with landing gear down, was supposed to take place at an altitude of 100 feet; instead, the plane performed the flyover at 30 feet, skimmed the treetops of the forest at the end of the runway, and crashed. All the passengers survived the initial impact, but a woman and two children died from smoke inhalation before they could escape.
  Official reports concluded that the pilots flew too low, too slow, failed to see the forest and accidentally flew into it. The captain, Michel Asseline, disputed the report and claimed an error in the fly-by-wire computer prevented him from applying thrust and pulling up.
context_section_description: Air France Flight 296 was a chartered flight of a new Airbus A320-111 operated by Air France for Air Charter. On 26 June 1988, it crashed while making a low pass over Mulhouse–Habsheim Airport (ICAO airport code LFGB) as part of the Habsheim Air Show. Most of the crash sequence, which occurred in front of several thousand spectators, was caught on video. The cause of the crash has been the source of major controversy.
  This particular flight was the A320's first passenger flight (most of those on-board were journalists and raffle winners).  The low-speed flyover, with landing gear down, was supposed to take place at an altitude of 100 feet (30 m); instead, the plane performed the flyover at 30 feet (9.1 m), skimmed the treetops of the forest at the end of the runway (which had not been shown on the airport map given to the pilots), and crashed. All the passengers survived the initial impact, but a woman and two children died from smoke inhalation before they could escape.
  Official reports concluded that the pilots flew too low, too slow, failed to see the forest and accidentally flew into it. The captain, Michel Asseline, disputed the report and claimed an error in the fly-by-wire computer prevented him from applying thrust and pulling up. In the aftermath of the crash, there were allegations that investigators had tampered with evidence, specifically the aircraft's flight recorders ("black boxes").
  This was the first fatal crash of an A320.
caption: An Air France Airbus A320, similar to the one involved in the crash
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