page_title: Sabena
section_title: Flights to or from Europe
hierarchical_section_title: Sabena / Accidents / Flights to or from Europe
caption_attribution_description: The shadow of a U.S. Coast Guard Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina at the crash site of a Belgian SABENA Douglas DC-4, circa 35 km south-west of Gander International Airport, Newfoundland. The DC-4 OO-CBG crashed due to a pilot error on the approach to Gander on the flight from Brussels (Belgium) to New York (USA) on 18 September 1946, killing 27 of 44 people on board. Rescue teams, mainly from the U.S. Coast Guard, made the first helicopter rescue and saved the remaining passengers, most of whom were injured.
context_page_description: The Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne, 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 bankruptcy in 2001, the newly formed SN Brussels Airlines took over part of Sabena's assets in February 2002, which became Brussels Airlines after a merger with Virgin Express in March 2007. The airline's corporate headquarters were located in the Sabena House on the grounds of Brussels Airport in Zaventem.
context_section_description: On 10 December 1935, a Savoia-Marchetti S.73 (registered OO-AGN) crashed at Tatsfield, Surrey, United Kingdom, with the loss of 11 lives.
  On 16 November 1937, a Junkers Ju 52/3m (registered OO-AUB) crashed near Ostend, Belgium, while landing, killing all 12 people on board.
  On 10 October 1938, a Savoia-Marchetti S.73 (OO-AGT) broke up in mid-air over Soest, Germany en route to Berlin from Düsseldorf, killing all 20 on board.
  On 14 March 1939, a Junkers Ju 52/3mge (OO-AUA) crashed in a field at Sint-Stevens-Woulve due to pilot error, killing the three crew. The aircraft was operating a cargo (mail) from London to Brussels.
  On 17 September 1946 at 01:47 local time, a Douglas DC-3 (registered OO-AUR) crashed upon takeoff from Haren Airport, killing one crew member. The other two crew and four passengers on board the flight bound for Croydon Airport survived. The aircraft had lost airspeed on takeoff for unknown reasons.
  The next day, 18 September 1946, 27 people lost their lives when a SABENA Douglas DC-4 (OO-CBG) crashed 35 km short of Gander Airport, where the aircraft planned to land for a refueling stop on the flight from Brussels to New York. At the time of the accident (07:42 UTC), there was dense fog near the airport, and the pilot executed a flawed approach at too low an altitude. There were 17 survivors (16 passengers and one crew).
  The 19 passengers and three crew members on a flight from Brussels to London lost their lives on 2 March 1948, when a Douglas DC-3 registered OO-AWH, crashed at 21:14 local time on approach to London Heathrow Airport in low visibility conditions.
  On 18 December 1949 at approximately 20:30 local time, a DC-3 (registered OO-AUQ) crashed near Aulnay-sous-Bois, France, killing the four passengers and four crew on board. The aircraft had just left Le Bourget Airport for a flight to Brussels, when a wing separated.
  On 14 October 1953 at ca. 15:20 local time, a Convair CV-240 (registered OO-AWQ) crashed near Kelsterbach, West Germany, killing the 40 passengers and four crew aboard the flight from Frankfurt to Brussels. Engine power was lost upon takeoff from Frankfurt Airport, making the aircraft impossible to control.
  One passenger on board a flight from Brussels to Zurich was killed on 19 December of the same year, when the aircraft (a CV-240 registered OO-AWO) hit the ground 2.5 km short of the runway threshold of Kloten Airport at 18:55 local time. In low visibility conditions, the pilot descended below the glidepath. The other 39 passengers and three crew members survived the accident.
  On 3 June 1954, a DC-3 (registered OO-CBY) was attacked by a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter aircraft near Maribor, Yugoslavia. The aircraft, on a cargo flight from Blackbushe Airport to Belgrade, remained airborne, and a forced landing at Graz Airport was carried out, during which it ran off the runway. In the incident, one out of the four people on board was killed.
  On 13 February 1955, the pilots of Flight 503 from Brussels to Rome lost orientation when approaching Ciampino Airport, resulting in the Douglas DC-6 registered OO-SDB crashing into the slope of Monte Terminillo at 18:53 local time, killing the 21 passengers and eight crew on board.
  The disaster of Flight 548 with its 73 casualties marked the worst accident in the history of SABENA. It happened on 15 February 1961 at 09:05 UTC, when the aircraft (a Boeing 707 registered OO-SJB) crashed at Brussels Airport following a flight from New York City. Among the dead were the entire American delegation to the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships, slated to be held in Prague; the competition was canceled in the aftermath.
  On 13 July 1968, a cargo-configured 707 (registered OO-SJK) crashed upon approach to Lagos Airport in Nigeria on a flight from Brussels, killing the seven occupants. It was determined that the aircraft descended too low and struck trees.
  A DC-3 registered OO-AUX was damaged beyond repair in a ground accident at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on 9 May 1970. The pilots began to taxi the aircraft even though they had not been cleared to do
caption: The crash site of the DC-4 in Newfoundland.
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