1937 Sabena Junkers Ju 52 Ostend crash
Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 16 November 1937 |
Summary | Controlled flight into terrain in poor weather |
Site | Ostend, Belgium 51°12′3.42″N 2°53′31.42″E / 51.2009500°N 2.8920611°E |
Aircraft type | Junkers Ju 52/3m |
Operator | Sabena |
Registration | OO-AUB |
Passengers | 9 |
Crew | 3 |
Fatalities | 12[a] |
Injuries | 0 |
Survivors | 0 |
On 16 November 1937 a
Accident
The flight from Munich to London was scheduled to stop at Frankfurt, Brussels and Ostend Airport but diverted to Stene Aerodrome due to bad weather. The aircraft hit the chimney of a brick factory and crashed, bursting into flames.[2]
All eleven passengers and crew who boarded the aircraft died. The remains of Grand Duchess Cecilie's newborn son were found among the wreckage; a Belgian official enquiry into the crash concluded that she had given birth during the flight and that the birth was the reason the pilot was attempting to land despite the poor weather conditions.[3][4]
Crew and passengers
- Antoine Lambotte, pilot
- Philippe Courtois, wireless operator
- Yvan Lansmans, mechanic
Passengers:[2]
- Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse
- Cecilie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse
- Prince Ludwig of Hesse[b]
- Prince Alexander of Hesse
- Georg Donatus' and Cecilie's newborn son
- Eleonore, Grand Duchess of Hesse
- Joachim Riedesel zu Eisenbach, friend of the grand ducal family
- Arthur Martens , world-record setting glider pilot and friend of the grand ducal family
- Sister Lina Hahn, governess of the grand ducal family
Aircraft
The aircraft was a three-engined
Aftermath
The wedding of
Immediately following the wedding, Prince Louis and his wife Margaret travelled to Belgium and visited a hospital where the victims' bodies had been laid out.[1]
The Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess' fourteen-month-old daughter,
With the death of the childless Prince Louis in 1968, the male line of the Hesse and by Rhine became extinct.[citation needed]
The crash and its effect on Cecilie's younger brother,
See also
Notes
References
- ^ a b "The Ostend Air Disaster". The Times. No. 47845. London. 18 November 1937. p. 14.
- ^ a b c d "A Tragic Air Crash – Eleven Dead". The Times. No. 47844. London. 17 November 1937. p. 16.
- ^ "Birth of Royal Infant seen as Cause of Crash". the Evening Independent. 23 November 1937. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
- Time Magazine
- ^ 5 in Grand Ducal Family Die With 6 Others in Air Crash. In: The New York Times, 17. November 1937, S. 1.
- ^ A Tragic Air Crash. In: The Times, 17. November 1937, Nr. 47844, S. 16.
- ISBN 3-87704-006-3, S. 407.
- ^ "A Twelfth Victim". Western Argus (Kalgoorlie, WA : 1916 – 1938). Kalgoorlie, WA. 23 November 1937. p. 19. Retrieved 28 June 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Duff (1979)
- ^ Nikkhah, Roya (13 November 2022). "Philip wanted to sue The Crown after being blamed for sister's death". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
Bibliography
- Duff, David. Hessian Tapestry. David & Charles PLC, 1979.
- Deglas, Christian (2005). Rampen in België : Heizeldrama, gasexplosie in Gellingen, Switelbrand, Herald of Free Enterprise, brand in de Innovation, mijnramp in Marcinelle ... en alle andere drama's die ons land schokten (in Dutch). Tielt: Lannoo. pp. 38–40. ISBN 90-209-6216-7.