On 16 November 1937 a

Junkers Ju 52/3m Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...

owned by Belgian airline

SABENA The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its ba ...

, operating as a scheduled international passenger flight from

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Germany, to London, England, crashed near

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

, Belgium. The aircraft hit a tall factory chimney while attempting to land at Stene aerodrome near Ostend, Belgium. The accident killed prominent members of the Hesse royal family on the way to London for the wedding of Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine.

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. 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.

Crew and passengers

Crew:''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 ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 17. November 1937, Nr. 47844, S. 16.Knodt, Manfred: ''Ernst Ludwig, Großherzog von Hessen und bei Rhein: Sein Leben und seine Zeit''. Schlapp, Darmstadt 1978, , S. 407. * Antoine Lambotte, pilot * Philippe Courtois, wireless operator * Yvan Lansmans, mechanic Passengers: * Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse * Cecilie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse *Prince Ludwig of Hesse *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 * , 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

airliner operated by

and registered in Belgium as ''OO-AUB''.

Aftermath

The wedding of Prince Louis with Margaret Campbell Geddes, daughter of Sir Auckland Geddes was brought forward to the morning after the accident. Baron Riedesel would have been Louis' best man; their friend Oliver Chesterton stood in as best man; the ceremony was small and solemn with the guests in mourning clothes. 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. The Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess' fourteen-month-old daughter,

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...

, was the only one of the family who was not on board the aircraft. She was adopted by her uncle Louis in early 1938. Johanna died of meningitis in 1939.Duff (1979) With the death of the childless Prince Louis in 1968, the male line of the Hesse and by Rhine became extinct. The crash and its effect on Cecilie's younger brother, Philip, were featured in

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

of the Netflix series, ''The Crown''. However, this fictionalised version wrongly implied that Philip was to blame for Cecilie taking the flight, whereas in reality "her decision to travel to London had nothing to do with Philip".

Notes

References

Bibliography

*Duff, David. ''Hessian Tapestry''. David & Charles PLC, 1979. *

External links

Photo of the crash
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1937 Sabena accidents and incidents Accidents and incidents involving the Junkers Ju 52 Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather Aviation accidents and incidents in Belgium Aviation accidents and incidents in 1937 Ostend 1937 in Belgium 1937 meteorology