ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 223154
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| Date: | Monday 30 December 1935 |
| Time: | 04:00 |
| Type: | Caudron C.630 Simoun |
| Owner/operator: | Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
| Registration: | F-ANRY |
| MSN: | 7042.20 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Near Wadi el Natrûn, Beheira Governorate -
 Egypt
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Benghazi, Libya |
| Cairo, Egypt | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
The Caudron C.630 Simoun with s/n 7042 was ordered in July 1935, built and delivered to its owner Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in September 1935. After several trips in Africa, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry decided at the end of December to fly from Paris to Saigon to establish a new record. (Planned route was Paris – Tunis – Benghazi – Cairo – Saigon). After 19 hours and 38 minutes of flight, while cruising by night over the Egyptian desert, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with heavy rain falls.
The crew decided first to climb to 2,500 meters but cumulus were still there so he reduced his altitude to 1,000 meters then 400 meters and lower until the aircraft struck a sand dune and crashed near Wadi el Natrûn, Beheira Governorate, Egypt (at approximate Coordinates: 30°35′N 30°20′E). Both occupants were uninjured but walked for four days without water or any food before being rescued. The aircraft was written off.
Saint-Exupéry's account of this near-death experience appeared in his 1939 book "Wind, Sand and Stars", and contributed to the great success of the book. It has received an award and received the Grand Prix du Roman de l'Académie française ; the American translation was a great sales success.
Sources:
1. https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/antoine-de-saint-exupery/
2. http://proxy.handle.net/10648/6b370ce2-1ad9-102f-a76c-003048944028
3. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-caudron-c630-simoun-libyan-desert
4. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/f-aaaa.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_F-14.html
6. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudron_C.635_Simoun#Bruchlandungen_von_Antoine_de_Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_El_Natrun#Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry
8. Saint-Exupéry, A. de. 1939. Terre des hommes (English title: Wind, Sand and Stars). Paris.
Images:
National Digital Archives
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Mar-2019 18:47 | Cobar | Added |
| 28-Mar-2019 00:20 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Apr-2019 18:38 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 06-Jul-2021 14:23 | harro | Updated [Embed code, Photo] |
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