Everything about Sabena Flight 548 totally explained
Sabena Flight 548, registration OO-SJB, was a
Boeing 707 aircraft
en route from
New York International Airport later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) to
Brussels,
Belgium's
Zaventem Airport on
February 15,
1961. The flight crashed during the approach for landing. All 72 on board were killed, as was one person on the ground. The crash was the first fatal accident involving a
Boeing 707 in regular passenger service. Among the dead were the entire
United States Figure Skating team, who were en route to the 1961
World Championships in
Prague,
Czechoslovakia.
The crash
There was no indication of trouble on board the plane until it approached the Brussels airport. The pilot had to circle the airport while waiting for a small plane to clear the runway. Then, according to eyewitnesses, the plane began to climb and bank erratically and crashed suddenly in a field near the hamlet of Berg. The wreckage burst into flames. All aboard were killed instantly. A farmer working in the fields was killed by a piece of aluminum shrapnel, and another farmer had his leg amputated by flying debris from the plane.
Baudouin I, King of the Belgians, and his consort,
Queen Fabiola, rushed to the scene of the disaster and provided comfort to the families of the local farmers who had died and been injured.
The exact cause of the crash was never determined beyond reasonable doubt, but investigators suspected that the aircraft may have been brought down by a failure of the stabilizer adjusting mechanism.
All 18 athletes of the 1961 U.S. figure skating team and 16 family members, coaches, and officials died in the crash. The dead included, most notably, 9-time U.S. ladies' champion
Maribel Vinson-Owen and her two daughters, reigning U.S. ladies' champion
Laurence Owen, reigning U.S. pairs champions
Maribel Y. Owen and her partner
Dudley Richards, reigning U.S. men's champion
Bradley Lord, U.S. men's silver medalist
Gregory Kelley, U.S. ladies' silver medalist
Stephanie Westerfeld, U.S. ladies' bronze medalist
Rhode Lee Michelson and U.S. ice dancing champions
Diane Sherbloom and
Larry Pierce. The loss of the U.S. team was considered so catastrophic for the sport that the 1961
World Figure Skating Championships were cancelled.
American President
John F. Kennedy issued a statement of condolence from the
White House. He was particularly shocked by the disaster. One of the skaters killed in the crash,
Dudley Richards, was a personal friend of President Kennedy and his brother
Ted Kennedy from summers spent at
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
Aftermath
Because the casualties included many of the top American coaches as well as the athletes, the crash was a devastating blow to the U.S. Figure Skating program, which had enjoyed a position of dominance in the sport in the 1950s. Although
Scott Allen won a bronze medal at the
1964 Winter Olympics -- becoming one of the youngest Olympic medalists in history -- the United States wouldn't be dominant again in this sport until the
1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, where
Peggy Fleming won gold in the ladies' event and
Tim Wood the silver in the men's. The crash was also indirectly responsible for bringing foreign coaches such as
Carlo Fassi and
John Nicks to the United States.
U.S. Figure Skating Association President
F. Ritter Shumway, in office less than two months at the time of the accident, established the
USFSA Memorial Fund in honor of the crash victims. The Fund, which is still in existence, is used to support the training of promising young figure skaters throughout the country.
Casualties
Skaters
Members of the
USFSA and their family members who were killed in the crash:
Other passengers
Julian Baginski
Pierre Balteau
Germaine Berbruggen
Jean Berbruggen
Father Otmar Boesch
Alexander Dayton
Mercellin Deprince
Iris Duke
Linda Foster
Dorice Herring
Maurice Herring
Jacob Hershkowicz
Harold Kellett
Juanita Lemoine
Howard Lillie
Vanessa Maes
Victor Maes
Francisco Medina
Herbert Myers
Franz Offergelt
Margaret Pozzuolo
Jacqueline Robinson
Richard Robinson
Robert Raulier
Max Silverstein
Martin Soria
Private First Class Robert Stopp
Dominique Vernier
George Young
Crew
Pierre van den Busche
Marcel DeMayer
Lucien Eduwaere
Paul Evos
Jean Kint
Louis Lambrechts
Jacqueline Rombaut
Jean Roy
Jacqueline Trullemans
Henri Vernimmen
Robert VoleppeFurther Information
Get more info on 'Sabena Flight 548'.
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