OSTEND AIR CRASH

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 120, 17 November 1937, Page 14

OSTEND AIR CRASH

NOTABLE VICTIMS

AN ILL-FATED WEDDING

DISASTER DUE TO FOG

(United Press Association—By Electric

Telegraph—Copyright.)

(Received November 17, 2.15 p.m.) LONDON, November 16.

All eleven occupants were incinerated when . the London-bound Belgian Sabena airliner,- seeking to land, in dense fog on the outskirts of Ostend, struck a brickworks; chimney, broke in two, crashed, and burst into flames. . , The victims were the Grand Duke Georges of Hesse and Rhine, aged 31, who succeeded to the title on the death of his father, the Grand Duke Ernest, a month ago; his wife, Princess Cecille of Greece and Denmark, a cousin of the Duchess of Kent; his mother, the Dowager Grand Duchess of Hesse and Rhine, second wife of the late Grand Duke Ernest, and formerly Princess Eleonore of Solmes-Hohensolms-Lich; his two sons. Prince Louis, aged 6, and Prince Alexandre, aged 4; his maid, Madame Lina Hahn; an engineer named Martens; and . Freiherr G'reysen zu Eisenback; also the pilot, Lambotte: the wireless operator, Courteois; and the mechanic, Lansman. The Grand Duke's surviving child. Jeanne Marina, aged one, year, is in Darmstadt. . The Grand Duke of Hesse and family boarded the plane at Munich, and were going to London to attend the wedding of his brother, Prince Louis of Hesse, social attache of the German Embassy in London, to Margaret Campbell Geddes, daughter of Sir Auckland Geddes. SCHEDULE CHANGED OWING TO FOG. Because of the fog the plane did not land at Brussels as scheduled, but went on to Ostend to pick up two passengers. The fog was dense when the plane arrived over Ostend, but the aerodrome officials prepared a landing. The machine planed down to the landing ground and crashed against the chimney of the brickyard, of which there are several in the neighbourhood An eye-witness said: "The plane -hit the chimney at about 100 miles an hour. A wing and one of the engines broke oft and crashed ■ through the roof of 'jpe brickworks, and the remainder of the plane overturned and crasl/.d in a brick-field 50 yards away, where it burst into flames. ■ There were several men in the brick-field, but none were hurt. The noise of the crash was heard for a considerable distance. Residents rushed to the spot, but as the rescuers approached there was a terrific explosion and the machine became a mass of flames, and it was impossible to approach. Gendarmes kept the crowd back from the blazing wreckage. Identification of the bodies was difficult, as they were badly charred. The visibility at the time of the crash was' 250 yards. and the ceiling only 160 feet. The plane was a Junkers 52 three-engined low-wing monoplane f widely used in the European commercial services. SHOCK TO DUKE'S HEIR. Prince Louis, who is heir to the Grand Duke's title, and Miss Geddes were awaiting the plane at Croydon when an official of Imperial Airways approached the happy, laughing group and broke the news. . Prince Louis was so shocked that he required treatment before going to London. The wedding was postponed last month because of the death of the Grand Duke, but after a conference tonight between the couple and Sir Auckland Geddes it was announced that it would be held privately on November 17. The wedding presents include one from Queen Mary. The two young victims of the disaster were to have acted as pages at the wedding. Immediately the news was confirmed the King and King Leopold of Belgium were informed at Buckingham Palace. The Grand Duke and Prince Louis are second cousins of King George. ; . All the members of the crew were Belgians. Lambotte, aged 37, was a well-known pilot, and recently completed 1.000,000 kilometres.

The Dowager Duchess was 66 and the Grand Duchess 26.

The Grand Duke Georges Donatus Guilliaume Nicolaus Edward Henri Charles of Hesse was born at Darmstadt on November 8, 1906, and married Princess Cecile of Greece and of Denmark in 1931. She was born in 1911. Of their children, Prince Louis Ernest Andre was born at Darmstadt in October, 1931, Alexandre Georges Charles was born at' Darmstadt in April, 1933, and Princess Jeanne Marina Eleonore at the Chateau of Wolfsgarten in September, 1936. The Grand Duke's younger brother, Prince Louis, who will be 29 on- Saturday, has been in the service of Herr yon' Ribbentfop, German Ambassador to London, for some time past. The late Grand Duke Ernest Louis was a son of Princess Alice of Great Britain, a daughter of Queen Victoria. He divorced his first wife and married, secondly, Princess Eleonore, of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, in 1905.