TAT Flight 230

TAT Flight 230

The aircraft involved in the crash pictured in Le Bourget in February 1985
Accident
Date	4 March 1988
Summary	Electrical failure leading to crash
Site	Near Fontainebleau, France
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Fairchild FH-227
Operator	TAT European Airlines
Registration	F-GCPS
Flight origin	Nancy-Essey Airport
Destination	Paris Orly Airport
Passengers	20
Crew	3
Fatalities	23
Survivors	0

TAT Flight 230 was a scheduled flight from Nancy, France to Paris Orly Airport which crashed on 4 March 1988, near Fontainebleau, France. All on board died.

Accident sequence

The aircraft, a Fairchild FH-227, took off from Nancy-Essey Airport at 5:53 local time and climbed to 14,000 feet, the flight's cruising altitude. At 6:26, the aircraft, now nearing Paris, was cleared down to 9,000 feet and then 7,000. Shortly later, the flight was cleared down to 6,000 feet. Nothing more was heard from the aircraft. The aircraft appeared to have an electrical malfunction. Control of the aircraft was lost, the plane descended rapidly, struck powerlines and crashed. All on board died.

Investigation

The investigations findings were that in bad weather conditions, the Fairchild FH-227 operating the flight suffered an electrical malfunction, and the aircraft pitched nose down. The committee could not find a probable cause to why this happened. The accepted hypothesis is that the electrical malfunction caused loss of attitude reference and autopilot disconnect causing the aircraft to enter a high speed dive.

In the absence of an independent horizon, the crew did not have any usable attitude reference while the aircraft was in a high-speed dive, thus contributing to the crash.

Discrepancy

There is a discrepancy of the number of people who died on TAT Flight 230. The official report lists 23 people, where a memorial near the crash site lists 24. One woman who perished on board was pregnant.