Sabena OO-AUB Ostend crash
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 16, 1937 |
| Type | Weather |
| Site | Ostend, Belgium |
| Fatalities | 11 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Junkers Ju-52/3m |
| Operator | Sabena |
| Tail number | OO-AUB |
| Passengers | unknown |
| Crew | unknown |
| Survivors | 0 |
A Junkers Ju 52 aircraft owned and operated by Belgian air operator Sabena crashed near Ostend, Belgium on November 16, 1937. The flight from Cologne, Germany, to London, United Kingdom, was scheduled to stop at Brussels, but bad weather forced the pilot to continue to Ostend. Unfortunately, conditions were little better at Ostend, and the aircraft hit a factory chimney while circling to land at Stene Airport.
11 passengers and crew lost their lives in the accident. Among those on board were the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hesse (brother-in-law and sister of Prince Philip, later Duke of Edinburgh), who were travelling to London for a minor royal wedding.
The dead included Grand Duke Georg Donatus of Hesse (1906-1937), his wife, former Princess Cecilie of Greece (1911-1937) who was pregnant at the time, their sons Ludwig (1931-1937) and Alexander (1933-1937) of Hesse, and the Grand Duke's widowed mother, former Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich (1871-1937). Grand Duchess Cecilia's unborn child was found among the wreckage. Their daughter, Princess Johanna of Hesse (1936-1939) was the only one of the family who was not onboard the aircraft and thus survived her family. She was adopted by her paternal uncle, Ludwig (1908-1968), whose wedding her family was going to.
His wedding was celebrated as scheduled the following day, and immediately he set off with his new wife, Margaret Geddes (1913-1997), daughter of Baron Geddes of Rolvenden, to Belgium to visit the crash site. The funeral took place in Darmstadt (Hesse)a few days later. Attending were Prince Philip, Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Prince Philipp of Hesse-Kassel, Prince Berthold of Baden, Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia and Lord Louis Mountbatten, among others. A photograph of the funeral procession, showing Grand Duke Ludwig as chief mourner, shows crowds saluting the mourners with their right hand in the air. World War II began less than two years later.
The orphaned Princess Johanna died of meningitis two years after. When Grand Duke Ludwig died in 1968, the male line of the Hesse and the Rhine became extinct.
