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Air Inter Flight 2611
	An Air Inter Viscount, similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	12 August 1963
Summary	Crashed in severe weather conditions, possible pilot disorientation due to lightning flash
Site	Near Lyon, France
Total fatalities	16
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Vickers Viscount 708
Operator	Air Inter
IATA flight No.	IT2611
ICAO flight No.	ITF2611
Call sign	AIR INTER 2611
Registration	F-BGNV
Flight origin	Lille-Lesquin Airport, Lesquin, France
Destination	Lyon-Bron Airport, Bron, France
Occupants	16
Passengers	12
Crew	4
Fatalities	15
Survivors	1
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities	1

The crash of Tramoyes involving the Air Inter Flight 2611 occurred on 12 August 1963 (1963-08-12), when a Vickers Viscount 708 operated by Air Inter, which was on a scheduled service from Lille to Nice via Lyon, crashed in the early afternoon in Tramoyes in the southwest of the Ain department, during its approach to Lyon-Bron Airport, located about 15 kilometers away.^[1] While being held for landing, it encountered a severe thunderstorm. A wing of the aircraft struck two trees, then the roof of a farmhouse, and finally the aircraft collided with a reinforced concrete electric pole and crashed into a field.^[1] Twelve people were killed instantly, and four were seriously injured, but only one survived, a five-year-old girl.^[1] In total, the accident caused 16 fatalities: 11 of the 12 passengers, all 4 crew members, and 1 person on the ground.^[1] The probable cause of the accident was the blinding of the crew caused by a severe lightning flash, causing them to lose control of the aircraft.^[1]

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Vickers Viscount 708 built by the British company Vickers-Armstrong in 1954 for Air France and acquired by Air Inter on 16 March 1962. It was equipped with four turboprop engines of the Dart 506 type. It had accumulated 12732 flight hours.^[2]

Crew

In command was Captain Georges Valencia, born on 1 September 1925, had logged 7400 flight hours. He was responsible for navigation and engine control on this flight.^[2] His co-pilot was First Officer Guy Cleret-Langavant, born on July 21, 1930, had logged 5795 flight hours. He was the pilot-flying on this flight.^[2] The Chief Flight Attendant was Christiane Souleil, born on May 22, 1939. She was seriously injured in the accident and requested Francis Girard, the first person to arrive at the accident site, to inform Bron Airport. She died at the Édouard Herriot Hospital in Lyon.^[2] The other Flight Attendant was Liliane Perois, born on October 31, 1942.^[2]

Other Air Inter and Vickers Viscount accidents

The crash of Tramoyes was the first of three aircraft crashes experienced by Air Inter during its existence (1958–1997), all three occurring in circumstances quite similar to those of the crash of Noirétable on October 27, 1972 (a Vickers Viscount coming from Lyon-Bron and approaching Clermont-Ferrand crashed in the Forez at night and in a storm) and the Mount Sainte-Odile disaster on January 20, 1992 (an Airbus A320 from Lyon-Satolas and approaching Strasbourg crashed in cloudy weather at night, near Mont Sainte-Odile).

The British medium-haul Vickers Viscount, launched in 1948, experienced a very large number of accidents during its career. Of the 445 aircraft put into service, there were 150 accidents or serious incidents, 144 of which resulted in the loss of the aircraft (List of accidents and incidents involving the Vickers Viscount).