ATLANTA — It is probably one of the darkest days in Atlanta’s history. On June 3, 1962, an Air France charter flight from Paris to Atlanta crashed on takeoff from France’s Orly Field.
Friday marks the 60th anniversary of the crash.
A total of 130 people on board died — among them were 106 Atlanta arts patrons returning home from a tour of European capitals. Two flight attendants sitting in the rear of the Boeing 707 survived. At the time, it was considered the worst plane crash in aviation history.
Investigators later determined that the Atlanta-bound charter developed trouble as the pilot began the takeoff roll.
The pilot unsuccessfully attempted to abort the takeoff by locking the wheels and reversing the engines. The plane crashed just yards off the runway.
With many of its major arts patrons deceased, the city quickly started planning for a memorial to the victims. Former Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield called the Orly crash “the greatest tragedy to hit Atlanta since the Civil War.”
The loss of the city’s most influential arts supporters helped pave the way for the Memorial Arts Building at the Woodruff Arts Center. The Woodruff Arts Center, which opened in 1968, stands as a memorial honoring the dead of Orly.
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Now, the city of Atlanta is getting ready to honor those who were killed 60 years ago.
“It’s just a special time for us to hold them up,” said Hala Moddelmog, with the Woodruff Arts Center. “If they were able to see this beautiful place right now, with all the kids running around … I think they’d be very pleased because their vision, their hope was for all Atlantans to be able to come to this beautiful, wonderful art center. And it just makes me happy that we have the honor and privilege of remembering them.”
“After the Orly disaster the Atlanta Art Association evolved into the Atlanta Arts Alliance, which would eventually administer the High Museum of Art, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Alliance Theatre, the 14th Street Playhouse, and the Atlanta College of Art,” the New Georgia Encyclopedia said. “The center was opened to the public in 1968, when a casting of Auguste Rodin’s The Shade (L’Ombre) was presented by the French government to the city of Atlanta, in memory of those who died at Orly.”
The Woodruff Arts Center holds the distinction as being the only arts center in the nation that hosts three different types of art forms.
Moddelmog said the arts center was made possible by an anonymous donor, who was later identified as Coca-Cola founder Robert Woodruff.
On Friday, flowers were laid out in front of the Rodin sculpture in memory of those who died. The Atlanta City Council will also present a proclamation to honor the victims of the crash.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this article.
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