Most of the crash sequence, which occurred in front of several thousand spectators, was caught on video. This particular flight was the A's first passenger flight and most of those on board were journalists and raffle competition winners, having won tickets as part of a promotional event by local businesses.
The low-speed flyover, with landing gear down, was supposed to take place at an altitude of feet 30 m ; instead, the plane performed the flyover at 30 ft 9 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 passengers survived the initial impact, but 3 then died of smoke inhalation from the subsequent fire; a quadriplegic boy in seat 4F, a 7-year-old girl in seat 8C, trapped by her seat being pushed forward and struggling to open the seatbelt, and an adult who, according to her partner, had reached the exit with him but then turned back to try help the 7 year old. The child had been traveling with her older brother but seated apart; he was swept out by a flow of escapees as he tried to find his sister.
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. Five individuals, including the captain and first officer, were later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Captain Asseline, who maintained his innocence, went on to serve ten months in prison and a further ten months probation.
It was the third A delivered to Air France, the launch customer. Captain Michel Asseline, 44, had been a pilot with Air France for almost twenty years and had the following endorsements: Caravelle ; Boeing , , and ; and Airbus A and A He was a highly distinguished pilot with 10, flight hours. As Air France's technical pilot, he had been heavily involved in test flying the A type and had carried out maneuvers beyond normal operational limitations. Asseline had total confidence in the aircraft's computer systems.
