ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 263664
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| Date: | Monday 25 July 1949 |
| Time: | morning |
| Type: | British Aircraft Eagle II |
| Owner/operator: | Ernst Spahni |
| Registration: | HB-EBE |
| MSN: | 142 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | St. Peter, near Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Zürich Airport, Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH/LZSH) |
| Schipol Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS/EHAM) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
c/no. 142: Registered as G-AFKH [C of R 8765] 28.9.38 to Luis Fontes, Mapledurham, Caversham, Reading, Berkshire (aircraft based as Woodley, Reading). C of A 6407 issued 10.10.38. Registration cancelled 1.11.45 (after 1945 Air Ministry census) as 'sold'. ("Change of Ownership of Aircraft"). However, already re-registered in Switzerland as HB-EBE in June 1939 to Ernst Spahni. According to one source (see link #7):
"On 27 May 1939, Luis Fontés flew G-ADGP to fourth place in the London to Isle of Man Air Race at 168.25 mph, and on 29 May Tommy Rose took it to second in the Manx Air Derby at a very respectable 186.75 mph. The pair had flown from Woodley to the Isle of Man in the Speed Six and the BA Eagle, G-AFKH, the latter being sold soon afterwards in Switzerland as HB-EBE"
Crashed St. Peter, near Freiburg im Breisgau, West Germany 25.7.49 after propeller broke and engine fell off in flight over the Schwarzwald. Of the six on board there were two fatalities and four survivors: a boy (Hans Spahni, aged 3 son of the pilot/owner) died, and the Pilot/owner Ernst Spahni (35, 1942 glider champion) died of injuries three days later (on 28.7.49). Ernest Spanhi's wife and daughter (aged 4) and the Hajot couple from Holland survived seriously injured. According to a contemporary newspaper report (THE SWISS OBSERVER August 12th, 1949 - see link #8).
"A sports aeroplane piloted by Mr. Ernst Spahni, from Zurich, on a flight from Zurich to Amsterdam, crashed near St. Peter (Black Forest).The five occupants - the wife of the pilot, his two children aged three and four and a married couple by the name of Hayot - were seriously injured and had to be taken to hospital, where the three years old boy Hans Spahni succumbed to his injuries"
NOTE: Several published sources give the date of the crash as 28.7.49. The crash was on 25.7.49, and the date of 28.7.49 is due to that being the date of the pilot/owner dying of his injuries, which was widely reported at the time.
Sources:
1. Freiburger Nachrichten 27 July 1949, p.5/29 July 1949, p.5
2. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/BK_BAMco.pdf
3. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-gb-registers-g-af
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AFKH.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A11.html
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_HB-.html
7. https://www.key.aero/article/luis-and-ruth-fontes
8. THE SWISS OBSERVER August 12th, 1949: https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=swo-001%3A1949%3A0%3A%3A930
9. https://histaero.ch/PDF/Flugunfaelle_2.pdf [German text]
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freiburg_im_Breisgau
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Jun-2021 10:31 | TB | Added |
| 06-Jun-2021 11:38 | TB | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 08-Jul-2022 11:16 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type] |
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