If you’re flying to Paris and are just about to land at the airport, the chances are that you’ll be flying over the ghost village of Goussainville-Vieux Pays . When you’re read the story that led to this village being abandoned, you’ll be sure to shiver if you fly over it again.

At one time Goussainville-Vieux Pays was a thriving and typical French village, situated just a few kilometres from the outskirts of France. That’s until the tragedy that took place during the 1973 Paris Air Show. T

he small population of the village had already experienced the disruption that the new airport to the north of Paris brought into their lives. In the year before the air crash, they had realised that they were right on the flight path of planes flying low with their landing gear lowered and at the ready.

The noise pollution was horrendous. Residents started to move out of the once-quiet village. They moved to places that weren’t affected by the flight path – some moved to Paris. Many residents thought that the proximity of the planes flying so close overhead was indicative of an accident waiting to happen. They were correct.

The 1973 Pais Airshow took place in June of that year.  At that time, the French and English were working on their joint aviation project – the Corncorde. At the same time, the Russians were also developing a supersonic aircraft, the Tupolev TU-144. Both were taking part in the airshow.

The Tupolev TU-144 crashed into the village of Goussainville-Vieux Pays.

The reason is still only conjecture. Some say that a French plane was taking photographs of the Russian prototype and this caused the pilot to take fatal evasive action. A more sinister theory is that the Concorde’s plans were leaked via espionage to the Russians – but with a fatal design flaw.

Whatever the reason, all the crew aboard the Russian plane were killed as were eight people in the village. And a further 60 people on the ground were severely injured. Hardly surprising then that the surviving residents of the village abandoned the place almost immediately.

The next video is not for the faint-hearted.

Where is Goussainville?

Goussainville-Vieux Pays

Goussainville (le Vieux Village),
95190 Goussainville,
France

ARTICLE BY:

Jackie

Jackie

JJ is originally from the UK and has lived in South Florida since 1994. She is the founder and editor of JAQUO Magazine. You can connect with her using the social media icons below.

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