French Government

Crashed on takeoff for unknown reason. All three occupants were injured and the aircraft was destroyed. It was completing a flight on behalf of the French Indochina Government (Haut Commissaire de France en Indochine).

The crew was performing a mail flight from Antananarivo to Ihosy with an intermediate stop in Morondava. Shortly after takeoff, while in initial climb, the engine failed. Following a distance of 1,500 metres, the aircraft stalled, hit a tree and crashed in a field. The pilot was killed and the flight engineer was injured. The aircraft was destroyed.
Crew:
Jacques Ringel, pilot,
Roland Chollet, flight engineer.

The twin engine airplane departed Madrid-Getafe on a special flight to Toulouse-Francazal with an intermediate stop in Barcelona, carrying five passengers and two crew members on behalf of the French Embassy. The five passengers were Dr. Henry from the Red Cross, two French journalists Mr. Château and Mr. Delaprée and two young girls. While cruising at an altitude of about 3,000 metres some 65 km east of Madrid, the airplane was shot down by the pilot of a Polikarpov I-15 of the Spanish Nationalist Forces. The crew reduced his altitude and attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft crash landed and came to rest, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed and all seven occupants were killed, two seriously. The journalist Louis Delaprée died from his injuries on December 31.