The Algerian military plane crashed because of ice

Ice accumulation is causing the crash of the Algerian military transport aircraft, which had claimed the lives of six Algerians in November in a village of Lozère, said Thursday the public prosecutor of Samuel Mende Finielz.

"The investigations carried out by the research section of the gendarmerie in conjunction with the Air Accident Investigation Bureau-air defense, including the use of flight recorders have shown that the device was changing limit performance in adverse weather conditions accompanied by hazards such as icing transparent, "said the magistrate in a statement sent to AFP.

In their report, the investigators then tell the sequence of the drama: "As a result of an alarm frost, the pilots decided to raise the altitude of flight, the aircraft already at the limit of performance, could not do, constantly slowing despite setting maximum power of its engines and reaching speeds close to stall speed. "

Then "the device, to the surprise of pilots, during this maneuver, performed several lurches they tried, unsuccessfully, to limit the effects."

For the prosecutor, "the hypothesis favored by the survey is that the aircraft already at the limit of performance, is responsible for frost which significantly increased its mass and burdened its aerodynamic qualities."


"The plane was then pushed from right to dive and make two rolls vertically. He reached a speed of 280 knots, exceeding its maximum speed of 240 knots, "said the prosecutor.

"The pressures on the tail due to the speed and effort patches applied to orders pilots were such that the tail of the aircraft was torn from the fuselage at the back door," said the magistrate, stating that while the aircraft was in total distress was "total destruction" and is therefore "crashed to the ground."

"The facts and accidental means likely to find its origin in the accumulation of ice on the wings," says Samuel Finielz.

The plane, a twin-engine CASA C-295, carrying a cargo of banknote paper for making notes for the Bank of Algeria and was carrying five soldiers and a representative of the Bank of Algeria.

The bodies of the six victims were found and repatriated to Algeria.