ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 194738
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| Date: | Friday 15 December 1939 |
| Time: | 12:58 |
| Type: | Bloch MB.210 |
| Owner/operator: | Armée de l'Air |
| Registration: | 183 |
| MSN: | E-856 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Saint-Martin-d'Août -
 France
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Avord, Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire region |
| Istres-Le Tubé, Bouches-du-Rhône (LFMI) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
On 15 December 1939, six bombers of GBA II/51 took off at 1100 hrs from Briare for a transfer flight to Istres in two patrols of 3 aircraft each. One of these formations met bad weather around Lyon and then ran into a snowstorm. The Bloch 210 n° 183, whose radio failed earlier in the flight, lost the other aircraft in the storm and after some time, the aircraft commander, Lt Bonnardel, ordered the pilot, Sgt Dugourd, to go down in circles to find the ground. The pilot reported that the wings were icing and Bonnardel ordered the crew to bail out, judging a forced landing too risky. Only the pilot remained in the front part of the Bloch, the five other crew gathered in the back to bail out by the rear door. Dugourd could not keep the bomber in the air for long and, unable to know what happened in the rear of the aircraft, bailed out.
In the rear, two crew, Sgt Porcher and Sgt Bozon, bailed out with difficulties. The third man, Cpl-chef Lucas, hesitated and got caught into his parachute wires. Finally Bonnardel pushed him and the fourth man, Adjudant-chef Bouvet, out. Now too low to bail out he remained aboard the aircraft that crashed at 1258 hrs near Saint-Martin-d'Août, Drôme, 30 km north of Valence. Bonnardel was seriously wounded but survived. Just before the crash he had time to check the wings and saw snow on them rather than ice. His conclusion was that the pilot was too much concerned by icing risk and lost his nerves.
The last two men who jumped both died. Lucas probably hit the tail of the Bloch, while Bouvet had not enough time to open his parachute. Both were found 600 m from the crashsite.
Crew:
Lt Bonnardel (air commander) wounded
Sgt Daniel Dugourd (pilot) unhurt
Sgt Porcher (flying engineer) unhurt
Sgt André Bozon (radio) unhurt
Cpl-chef Jean Etienne Désiré Lucas (22 years old) killed
Adjudant-chef Henri Joseph Bouvet (38 years old) killed
Sources:
1. Carton 2B142 des Archives de l’Armée de l’Air, SHAA (covering French Air Force accidents between 1st December 1939 and 15 January 1940)
2. http://pagesperso-orange.fr/espacesaerienslyon/drome2.pdf
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloch_MB.210
4. https://www.google.fr/maps/search/Saint+Martin+d+Aout/data=!4m2!2m1!4b1?hl=fr&dg=dbrw&newdg=1
5. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-bloch-mb210-saint-martin-daout-2-killed
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Apr-2017 05:44 | brocky | Added |
| 15-Dec-2017 12:35 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Apr-2019 20:03 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 24-Dec-2019 16:33 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 07-Apr-2020 18:34 | TB | Updated [Operator, Location] |
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