“Caravelle Ajaccio-Nice: a secret-defense crash?” is the title of the documentary broadcast this Monday, April 18 on France 2. On September 11, 1968, the caravelle sank off Cap d’Antibes during a flight between Ajaccio and Nice, 95 people died. Officially, it was a fire in the rear of the aircraft that caused this crash, but the testimony of a sailor from Suffren and the gray areas that remain in this case create confusion. This is explained by journalist Alexandra Colineau in the documentary presented by Fabrice Drouelle.
Alexandra Colineau, how did you get here? Did you start all over again?
Absolutely. This is a subject that was proposed to me, which I did not know. I did not know the history of this accident to be completely honest. So I resumed the entire investigation from the beginning, as if I was investigating the causes of the accident myself to technically determine what could have happened. And then, it’s also for explore this missile thesis, which had effectively been dismissed because the army had said that nothing had happened that day. My mission consisted in particular in finding documents and testimonies.
So you had access to the documents and archives declassified by Emmanuel Macron?
Yes, since there is now a law which has been passed and which allows access to these archives without restrictions. A bit like in a thriller, I asked for a list of documents, becausethere is no Caravelle file in the Army archives. And in fact, every time I opened a box, I was really hoping to find something about this missile thing and what had happened. But there are few documents on what the army, in particular the National Navy, was doing on that day.
In fact there are two places from which a missile could be fired: the Ile du Levant, off Hyères, and a frigate called the Suffren. Regarding this ship, I had access to the logbook, which lists everything that happens day by day, hour by hour. This logbook shows that a priori, nothing happened on September 11, 1968.
On the other hand, you have a strong testimony: it is that of this sailor who was at the time on board the frigate?
Exactly. In fact, we didn’t content ourselves with looking for the archives in the files. In the army archives, we looked for all the soldiers who were still alive and who were in that area. On September 11, 1968, there were many of them on board the Suffren; 350 men were also on Levant Island. We looked for them on former military forums, on Facebook, on Copains d’avant, etc. And we called them one after the other. Most did not want to answer us. Others couldn’t remember what had happened. Except one who told us that he remembers that day very well. He told me : “There was a missile effect, we fired a missile and a quarter of an hour later we were warned. We were alerted to an accident or a crash and told that the frigate would be deported at the crash site.” The sailor does not confirm that there is a direct link, but assures that there was a missile launch and that a few minutes later, they were warned of an air accident.
Can this testimony be used as evidence?
So legally no. It is a testimony among others, that is to say that there is a rule in justice: a testimony is worth nothing, it must be corroborated by at least a second testimony, and evidence . And that’s the whole problem, that is to say that there are no more proofs. That’s the whole point. So why is there no more evidence? I would have liked to ask the minister the question and I was refused.
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