A crash cover is a

philatelic Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...

term for a type of

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

(including the terms air accident cover, interrupted flight cover, wreck cover), meaning an envelope or package that has been recovered from an

air crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

train wreck A train wreck, train collision, train accident or train crash is a type of disaster involving one or more trains. Train wrecks often occur as a result of miscommunication, as when a moving train meets another train on the same track; or an acci ...

, shipwreck or other accident. Crash covers are a type of interrupted mail. Crash Cover Nov 2 1929

Crashes of flights carrying

airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be t ...

were a regular occurrence from the earliest days of mail transport by air. In many cases of

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

crashes, train wreck and shipwrecks, it was possible to recover some or even all of the mail being carried, with perhaps some charring around the edges of some pieces if there had been a fire, or water damage from flying boat crashes or shipwrecks. In such cases, the authorities typically apply a

postal marking A postal marking is any kind of annotation applied to a letter by a postal service. The most common types are postmarks and cancellations; almost every letter will have those. Less common types include forwarding addresses, routing annotation ...

(cachet), label, or

mimeograph A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the proc ...

that gets affixed to the cover explaining the delay and damage to the recipient, and possibly enclose the letter in an "ambulance cover" or "body bag" if it was badly damaged and then send it to its intended destination. Aviation-related crash covers are a specialized collecting area of

aerophilately Aerophilately is the branch of philately that specializes in the study of airmail. Philatelists have observed the development of mail transport by air from its beginning, and all aspects of airmail service have been extensively studied and docu ...

and are much-prized items of postal history, because they are generally rare, but as tangible artifacts of often-tragic accidents they have a story to tell. The 367 covers salvaged from the ''Hindenburg'' disaster are especially desirable, with prices ranging from US$10,000 and up; a cover at the Corinphila auction in May 2001 realized 85,000 Swiss francs (US$75,000). Envelope carrying plane crash stamp

The

American Air Mail Society The American Air Mail Society (AAMS) is a U.S. nonprofit organization devoted to the collecting and study of airmail and aerophilately. History The society was founded in 1923 and is the second-oldest aerophilatelic society in the world. The Aero ...

has a Crash Cover Committee specializing in the study of crash covers. There is also a Wreck & Crash Mail Society, whose members collect all types of crash and wreck covers.

References and sources

;Notes ;Sources * * *

External links

American Air Mail Society

Hindenburg disaster covers
United States National Postal Museum
Hindenburg Crash Mail - the Scout Covers

The Wreck & Crash Mail Society
{{airmail-nav Philatelic terminology Postal history Disasters