The 1933 Imperial Airways Ruysselede crash occurred on 30 December 1933 when an

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passenger ...

Avro Ten collided with one of the radio masts of Belradio at Ruysselede,

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and crashed killing all ten people on board. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled passenger flight from

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany to London, England via

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium.

Aircraft

The accident aircraft was Avro Ten

registration Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), th ...

G-ABLU, c/n 528. The aircraft had entered service with Imperial Airways in May 1931 and having served for a time with Iraq Petroleum Transport Co., it had returned to Imperial Airways. The aircraft was named ''Apollo''.

Accident

Operating a flight from

, Germany to

Croydon Airport Croydon Airport (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main air ...

, United Kingdom via

Haren Airport Haren Airport or Evere Airfield is a former military airfield and civil airport in Brussels, Belgium. Located in Brussels' city section of Haren and adjacent municipality of Evere, it was established by the German Empire in 1914 and lasted until ...

, Brussels, Belgium, the aircraft departed at 12:20 local time (11:20

GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

), which was 20 minutes later than scheduled. As a result of fog, the aircraft was flying on a route to the north of its normal route. At 13:15, whilst flying at an altitude of , it crashed into a guy wire of the tall radio mast at Ruysselede, which was illuminated at the time. The top section of the mast was demolished. The aircraft lost a wing and crashed. Four workers at the radio station rushed to the aid of those on board the aircraft, as did twelve villagers from Ruysselede. At least one passenger was seen to have survived the crash. There was an explosion and the wreckage of the aircraft was burnt out. The rescuers all suffered burns.

Casualties

All ten passengers and crew on the aircraft were killed. Four rescuers suffered burns.

Investigation

The accident was investigated by Belgian authorities. The British

Accidents Investigation Branch The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigates civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and crown dependencies. It is also the Space Accident Investigation Authority (SAIA ...

sent a representative to assist in the investigation.

Awards

The relatives of one of the victims praised the bravery of one of the rescuers, and pressed for him to be rewarded for his courage.

King Albert I Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. Born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-S ...

awarded Camille van Hove the Civic Cross (1st Class) for his efforts in attempting to rescue the victims of the crash. Mr van Hove received serious burns and was still in hospital in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

at the time the award was notified. Nine other rescuers were given rewards of money.

References

External links

Photograph of G-ABLU ''Apollo''
and

Handley Page H.P.42 The Handley Page H.P.42 and H.P.45 were four-engine biplane airliners designed and manufactured by British aviation company Handley Page, based in Radlett, Hertfordshire. It held the distinction of being the largest airliner in regular use in ...

G-AAUD ''Hanno''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Imperial Airways Ruysselede crash Aviation accidents and incidents in 1933 Aviation accidents and incidents in Belgium Airliner accidents and incidents involving fog Imperial Airways accidents and incidents 1933 in aviation 1933 in Belgium