AN AIR DISASTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23352, 18 November 1937, Page 11

AN AIR DISASTER

BELGIAN LINER CRASHES EIEVEN PEOPLE KILLED FIVE FROM ONE FAMILY PROMINENT GERMANS FLYING TO LONDON WEDDING ' (United Press Association) (By Electric- IVt-m. ph i opvnßht) OSTEND, Nov. 16. A Belgian Sabena passenger plane crashed at Ostend on its wav to Brussels from London. The eight passengers and three members of the crew were killed, including the Grand Duke of Hesse, one son, and three daughters. The Duke was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria. STRUCK A CHIMNEY VICTIMS BURNED TO DEATH LONDON, Nov. 16. The eight passengers and the three members of the crew were burned to death. When the airliner was seeking to land in dense fog on the outskirts of Ostend it struck a brickworks chimney, broke in two, crashed, and burst into flames. Nobody survived

The Grand Duke of Hesse and family, who boarded the plane at Munich, were going to London to attend the wedding of the Grand Duke’s brother, Prince Louis of Hesse, a social attache at the German Embassy in London, to Margaret Campbell Geddes, daughter of Sir Auckland Geddes on November 20. Because of the fog the plane did not land at Brussels as scheduled, blit flew to Ostend to pick up two passengers. The fog was dense when the liner arrived over Ostend, but the aerodrome officials prepared for a landing. As the airliner planed down to the landing ground it crashed into a 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 off and crashed through the roof of the brickworks. The remainder of the plane overturned and crashed into a brickfield 50 yards away, where it burst into flames. Several men were in the brickfield, but none was hurt.”

BODIES BADLY CHARRED IDENTIFICATION DIFFICULT LONDON, Nov. 16. The plane overturned and crashed in a brickfield 50 yards away, where it burst into flames. The noise was heard-a considerable distance away. Residents rushed to the spot, but as the rescuers approached there was a terrific explosion and the machine was a mass of flames. 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. Visibility was 250 yards and the ceiling only 160 feet. The plane was a Junkers's2, a three-engined, lowwing monoplane, widely used in European commercial services. 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 because of the death of the Grand Duke, but after a conference tonight between the couple and Sir Auckland, it was announced that it would be held privately on November 17. The wedding presents include one from Queen Mary. EXTRICATING THE BODIES BAD WEATHER CAUSES DELAY LONDON, Nov. 17. (Received Nov. 17, at 11 p.m.) An aerodrome official said the Grand Duke’s two sons and Freiherr Eisenbach were thrown clear on to a heap of straw, on which the machine fell, but the straw instantly blazed up. The weather was so bad that the work of extricating the bodies was suspended at midnight until the morning, when a member of the German Embassy will arrange transport 'of the bodies to Darmstadt for the funeral. ALL THE BODIES RECOVERED LONDON, Nov. 17. (Received Nov. 18, at 1.45 a.m.) Sir Auckland Geddes said: “Prince Ludwig’s family has been practically wiped out, and he .is left to face the situation. That is why the marriage will be held on November 17, entirely privately, at St. Peter’s, Eaton square, instead of November 20. I ask the press and the public to respect the d-eep grief of Prince Ludwig and my daughter.” The Grand Duke bore the title through courtesy, the Grand Duchy having. been abolished after the revolution in 1918. The House of Hesse estates are in the middle of the Rhineland. It dates back to the iixteenth century. After the wedding Miss Geddes will become the ruling Princess of the House of Hesse. The bodies have all been recovered and removed to the factory room.

'"'THE VICTIMS IDENTIFIED LONDON, Nov. 16. (Received Nov. 17. at 5.5 p.m.) The 11 victims were;— The Grand .Duke Georges of Hesse and Rhine, who succeeded to the title on the death of his father, the Grand Duke Ernest, a month ago. He was 31. His wife, Princess Cecile of Greece and Denmark, 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 Sol mesh Ojensolmslich. His two sons, Prince Louis, aged six, and Prince Alexandre, aged four. rT His maid, Madame Lina Hahn. An engineer named Martens and Baron von Riedesel Zu Eisenbach, a member of the Grand Duke’s entourage. He was to have been best man. The pilot, M. Lambotte. The wireless operator, M. Courtois. The mechanic, M. Lansmans. The Grand Duke’s surviving child, Jeanner Marina, aged one. is in Darmstadt. The two young victims were to have acted as pages at the wedding. Immediately the news was confirmed the King and King Leopold were informed at Buckingham Palace. The Grand Duke and Prince Louis were second cousins of King George. All the crew were Belgians. Lambotte, who was 37, and a wellknown pilot, recently completed 1,000,000 kilometres. The Dowager Duchess was 66 and the Grand Duchess was 26 years of age. A TWELFTH VICTIM CHILD PREMATURELY BORN LONDON, Nov. 17. (Received Nov. 18, at 1 a.m.) The Daily Sketch says a twelfth victim was a child prematurely born to the Grand Duchess as the plane crashed.