Air Littoral Flight 701A
Air Littoral Flight 701A — Short version
Air Littoral Flight 701A crashed on landing at Florence’s Peretola airport in Italy on 30 July 1997. The aircraft, an ATR 42-500 with registration F-GPYE, was on a scheduled flight from Nice to Florence. There were 17 people on board: 14 passengers and 3 crew. There were 16 injuries and 1 fatality, the instructor captain Remy Cuculiere, who died four days after the crash. The trainee captain, Alain Blayes, survived, as did the other passengers.
On approach to runway 23, the plane touched down far down the runway and at a higher speed than usual. It overran the end of the runway, breached the perimeter fence, and crashed into a ditch beside the A11 motorway. The right engine stopped when its propeller hit the ground, while the left engine ran for about 45 minutes during rescue operations. All occupants were evacuated, though it took about an hour to extricate the two crew members.
The weather was good visibility (CAVOK) with light and variable winds. Runway 23 has a 620-meter displaced threshold; on that day, about 80% of aircraft landed on the opposite runway, 05.
The ATR 42-500 was powered by two PW127 engines, and Air Littoral had been the launch customer for the model, taking delivery in 1996.
Investigators found the final approach was too fast, and the onboard warning system was ignored. No technical defects were found. Captain Blayes and two Air Littoral managers were charged with manslaughter but were acquitted in 2003. Responsibility was placed on the instructor captain for proceeding with the landing despite an unsafe approach.
The accident highlighted Florence’s airport constraints, which lie between the A11 motorway and Mount Morello, and it fed debates about expanding Florence or diverting traffic to Pisa.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 03:55 (CET).