Date & Time: Dec 24, 1937 at 1729 LT
Type of aircraft:
Wibault 282/283
Operator:
Registration:
F-AMYD
Flight Phase:
Flight
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Bucharest – Vienna – Prague – Paris
MSN:
11
YOM:
1934
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
1
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The three engine aircraft departed Vienna-Schwechat Airport at 1555LT bound for Prague. Approaching the Czech capital city, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and was instructed by ATC to return to Vienna. Few minutes later, the crew decided to initiate a descent but did not realize he was off course by 120 km. While descending in low visibility, at an altitude of some 700 metres, the aircraft impacted trees and crashed in a snowy forest located on the north slope of Mt Hut'ska. The wreckage was found a day later in 60 cm of snow. The aircraft named 'Le Glorieux' was totally destroyed and all three occupants were killed.
Crew:
Frantisek Lehky, pilot,
Pierre Astruc, radio navigator.
Passenger:
Karel Flanderka.
Probable cause:
According to the authorities, the accident was caused by the combination of the following factors:
- Poor weather conditions,
- Low visibility,
- Failure of the direction finding equipment,
- Erroneous tracking calculation on part of the crew,
- Incomplete instructions transmitted by ATC based in Prague.