1994 deliberate plane crash in Morocco
Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 was a passenger flight on 21 August 1994 which crashed approximately ten minutes after takeoff from Agadir–Al Massira Airport in Morocco. All 44 passengers and crew on board were killed. It was the deadliest ATR 42 aircraft crash at that point in time. An investigation showed that the crash was deliberately caused by one of the pilots.
Aircraft and crew
The aircraft involved was an ATR 42-312 which had its maiden flight on 20 January 1989. The aircraft was delivered to Royal Air Maroc on 24 March the same year. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW120 turboprop engines.[1][2]
The captain was 32-year-old Younes Khayati, who had 4,500 flight hours. The first officer was Sofia Figuigui.[3]
Flight
Victims' nationalities
| Nationality
|
Passengers
|
Crew
|
Total
|
| Morocco |
20 |
4 |
24
|
| Italy |
8 |
- |
8
|
| France |
5 |
- |
5
|
| Netherlands |
4 |
- |
4
|
| Kuwait |
2 |
- |
2
|
| United States |
1 |
- |
1
|
| Total
|
40
|
4
|
44[4]
|
Flight 630 was a scheduled flight from Agadir, Morocco to Casablanca using an ATR 42 aircraft. At approximately 10 minutes into the flight while climbing through 16,000 feet (4,900 m), the aircraft entered a steep dive, and crashed into a region of the Atlas Mountains about 32 kilometres (20 mi; 17 nmi) north of Agadir.
The crash site was at Douar Izounine, about 32 kilometres (20 mi; 17 nmi) north of Agadir. Among the 40 passengers on board were a Kuwaiti prince and his wife. The prince was the brother of Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwait's minister of defence.[4]
Investigation
The commission that investigated the crash determined it to be pilot suicide.[5] Flight recorder data revealed that the ATR 42's autopilot was intentionally disconnected by Captain Khayati, who then deliberately put the aircraft into a dive.[6] Evidence also showed that during the descent, First Officer Figuigui had sent out distress calls once aware of the captain's intentions.[7] The Moroccan pilots union disputed the suicide explanation, claiming that Captain Khayati was mentally fit and showed no signs of frustration, and instead claiming that Captain Khayati reported a "technical problem" prior to takeoff, although the investigative commission never found evidence supporting this claim.[8][9] The crash was the deadliest incident involving an ATR 42 aircraft at that point in time.[10]
