Solved case · 1994
The short answer
On 21 August 1994, Royal Air Maroc Flight 630, an ATR 42-312 flying from Agadir to Casablanca, crashed into the Atlas Mountains about ten minutes after takeoff, killing all 44 people on board. Investigators concluded the captain deliberately put the aircraft into a fatal dive.
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Suggest coverage for Royal Air Maroc Flight 630Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Agadir–Al Massira Airport to Casablanca, Morocco, operated with an ATR 42-312 twin-engine turboprop aircraft. The aircraft, which had first flown on 20 January 1989 and was delivered to Royal Air Maroc on 24 March 1989, was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW120 engines.
On 21 August 1994, approximately ten minutes after takeoff, while the aircraft was climbing through 16,000 feet, it entered a steep dive and crashed into the Atlas Mountains near Douar Izounine, about 32 kilometres north of Agadir. All 44 people on board — passengers and crew — were killed. At the time, it was the deadliest accident involving an ATR 42 aircraft. Among the 40 passengers were a Kuwaiti prince and his wife; the prince was the brother of Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who was then Kuwait's minister of defence.
The flight crew consisted of 32-year-old Captain Younes Khayati, who had accumulated 4,500 flight hours, and First Officer Sofia Figuigui.
An official investigating commission examined the crash and determined it was caused by an act of pilot suicide. Analysis of flight recorder data showed that the aircraft's autopilot was intentionally disconnected by Captain Khayati, who then deliberately steered the aircraft into a dive. The data also indicated that First Officer Figuigui sent distress calls during the descent once she became aware of the captain's intentions.
The Moroccan pilots union publicly disputed the suicide finding. The union argued that Captain Khayati was mentally fit and had not displayed any signs of frustration or distress prior to the flight. The union instead claimed that Khayati had reported a "technical problem" with the aircraft before takeoff. However, the investigative commission stated it found no evidence to support the claim of a technical malfunction.
The case remains documented as a determined finding of deliberate pilot action rather than mechanical failure, based on the flight recorder evidence reviewed by the official commission. No criminal charges are recorded in connection with the incident, as the person found responsible for deliberately causing the crash did not survive.
The ATR 42-312 aircraft later involved in the crash makes its maiden flight.
The aircraft is delivered to Royal Air Maroc.
Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 departs Agadir–Al Massira Airport for Casablanca; approximately ten minutes into the flight, while climbing through 16,000 feet, the aircraft enters a steep dive and crashes into the Atlas Mountains near Douar Izounine, about 32 kilometres north of Agadir, killing all 44 people on board.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
First officer of Flight 630, who sent distress calls during the aircraft's descent upon becoming aware of the captain's intentions; killed in the crash.[3]
Identified by the Moroccan accident investigation commission as the perpetrator who deliberately disconnected the autopilot and flew the aircraft into the ground; died in the crash, so was never prosecuted.[3]
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