Sabena Flight 548

Infobox Airliner accident|name=Sabena Flight 548
Crash
Image_caption=Wreckage_of_Flight_548
Date=February 15, 1961
Type= Mechanical failure
Site=near Brussels, Belgium
Fatalities=72 plus one on ground
Injuries=
Origin=Idlewild International Airport
Destination=Zaventem Airport
Aircraft Type=Boeing 707
Operator=Sabena
Tail Number=airreg|OO|SJB|disaster
Passengers=61
Crew=11
Survivors =0

Sabena Flight 548, registration OO-SJB, was a Boeing 707 aircraft "en route" from New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) to Brussels, Belgium's Zaventem Airport on February 15, 1961. The flight crashed during the approach for landing. All 72 on board were killed, as was one person on the ground. The crash was the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 707 in regular passenger service. [Three 707s had crashed previously during training or test flights.] Among the dead were the entire United States Figure Skating team, who were en route to the 1961 World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

The crash

There was no indication of trouble on board the plane until it approached the Brussels airport. The pilot had to circle the airport while waiting for a small plane to clear the runway. Then, according to eyewitnesses, the plane began to climb and bank erratically and crashed suddenly in a field near the hamlet of Berg. The wreckage burst into flames. All aboard were killed instantly. A farmer working in the fields was killed by a piece of aluminum shrapnel, and another farmer had his leg amputated by flying debris from the plane. Baudouin I, King of the Belgians, and his consort, Queen Fabiola, rushed to the scene of the disaster and provided comfort to the families of the local farmers who had died and been injured.

The exact cause of the crash was never determined beyond reasonable doubt, but investigators suspected that the aircraft may have been brought down by a failure of the stabilizer adjusting mechanism.

All 18 athletes of the 1961 U.S. figure skating team and 16 family members, coaches, and officials died in the crash. The dead included, most notably, 9-time U.S. ladies' champion Maribel Vinson-Owen and her two daughters, reigning U.S. ladies' champion Laurence Owen, reigning U.S. pairs champions Maribel Y. Owen and her partner Dudley Richards, reigning U.S. men's champion Bradley Lord, U.S. men's silver medalist Gregory Kelley, U.S. ladies' silver medalist Stephanie Westerfeld, U.S. ladies' bronze medalist Rhode Lee Michelson and U.S. ice dancing champions Diane Sherbloom and Larry Pierce. The loss of the U.S. team was considered so catastrophic for the sport that the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships were cancelled.

American President John F. Kennedy issued a statement of condolence from the White House. He was particularly shocked by the disaster. One of the skaters killed in the crash, Dudley Richards, was a personal friend of President Kennedy and his brother Ted Kennedy from summers spent at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

Aftermath

Because the casualties included many of the top American coaches as well as the athletes, the crash was a devastating blow to the U.S. Figure Skating program, which had enjoyed a position of dominance in the sport in the 1950s. Although Scott Allen won a bronze medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics -- becoming one of the youngest Olympic medalists in history -- the United States would not be dominant again in this sport until the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, where Peggy Fleming won gold in the ladies' event and Tim Wood the silver in the men's. The crash was also indirectly responsible for bringing foreign coaches such as Carlo Fassi and John Nicks to the United States.

U.S. Figure Skating Association President F. Ritter Shumway, in office less than two months at the time of the accident, established the USFSA Memorial Fund in honor of the crash victims. The Fund, which is still in existence, is used to support the training of promising young figure skaters throughout the country.

Casualties

USFSA

Members of the USFSA and their family members who were killed in the crash:

ingle skaters

*Gregory Kelley
**Nathalie Kelley - older sister
*Bradley Lord
*Rhode Lee Michelson
*Laurence Rochon Owen
*Douglas Ramsay
*Stephanie Westerfeld

Pair skaters

*Ila Ray Hadley
*Ray Hadley
*Laurie Jean Hickox
*William Holmes Hickox
*Maribel Yerxa Owen
*Dudley Shaw Richards

Ice dancers

*Roger Campbell
**Ann Campbell - parent
*Dona Lee Carrier
*Robert Dineen
*Patricia Dineen
*Dallas "Larry" Pierce
*Diane Carol Sherbloom

Coaches and manager

*Alvah "Linda" Hadley - coach
*William Kipp - coach
*Deane McMinn - team manager
*Maribel Vinson Owen - coach
*Daniel "Danny" Ryan - coach
*Edi Scholdan - coach
**James Scholdan - son
*William Swallender - coach
**Sharon Westerfeld - sister

Judges and referee

*Harold Hartshorne - judge
**Louisa Hartshorne - wife
*Edward LeMaire - judge
**Richard LeMaire - son
*Walter S. Powell - referee

Other passengers

*Julian Baginski
*Pierre Balteau
*Germaine Berbruggen
*Jean Berbruggen
*Father Otmar Boesch
*Alexander Dayton
*Mercellin Deprince
*Iris Duke
*Linda Foster
*Dorice Herring
*Maurice Herring
*Jacob Hershkowicz
*Harold Kellett
*Juanita Lemoine
*Howard Lillie
*Vanessa Maes
*Victor Maes
*Francisco Medina
*Herbert Myers
*Franz Offergelt
*Margaret Pozzuolo
*Jacqueline Robinson
*Richard Robinson
*Robert Raulier
*Max Silverstein
*Martin Soria
*PFC Robert Stopp
*Dominique Vernier
*George Young

Crew

*Pierre van den Busche
*Marcel DeMayer
*Lucien Eduwaere
*Paul De Vos
*Jean Kint
*Louis Lambrechts
*Jacqueline Rombaut
*Jean Roy
*Jacqueline Trullemans
*Henri Vernimmen
*Robert Voleppe

References

* Duffy, Bob. [http://www.boston.com/sports/packages/usfigureskating/stories/122900_shattered_dreams.htm "Shattered Dreams: Potential for Greatness of 18 Skaters Perished En Route to Prague,"] "The Boston Globe". December 29, 2000, p. E16.
* Nichols, Nikki. "Frozen in Time: The Enduring Legacy of the 1961 U.S. Figure Skating Team". Emmis Books, 2006. ISBN 1-57860-260-2.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19610215-3 Accident description at Aviation Safety Network]
* [http://www.airdisaster.com/photos/sab548/photo.shtml Photo of the crash scene]
* [http://www.usfigureskating.org/About.asp?id=7 US Figure Skating Memorial Fund]
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/dblist.php?sorteer=datekey_desc&kind=%&cat=%&page=1&field=Operatorkey&var=5449 Other incidents involving Sabena]