Sabena Flight 503

The crash of Sabena Flight 503 was an accident involving a Douglas DC-6 of the Belgian airline company Sabena which crashed into Monte Terminillo near Rieti, Italy, 100 km northeast of Rome on 13 February 1955, killing all 29 people on board.

Crash

Sabena Flight 503 was a Douglas DC-6 which departed from Brussels, Belgium at 17:17 GMT en route to Leopoldstad, Congo with stops at Rome-Ciampino, Italy and Kano, Nigeria under the command of pilot Stephan Stolz and co-pilot Patrick McNamara.

The aircraft made contact with Ciampino International Airport according to plan at 19:29 GMT, at which time the aircraft had passed over Florence, Italy at 17,500 ft. The weather conditions however kept getting worse with heavy rain and snow fall. At 19:48 Ciampino control asked the aircraft whether it had passed over Viterbo. Instead of answering this question directly, the crew inquired whether the Viterbo NDB (Non-directional beacon) was on full power. The controller replied that another aircraft had overflown Viterbo shortly before and had found it to be operating properly. At 19:51 GMT the aircraft stated that it had passed over Viterbo one minute previously and requested clearance to descend to 5500 ft which was granted. One minute later it inquired whether the Ciampino ILS was operating and received an affirmative reply. At 19:55 co-pilot McNamara contacted Ciampino and stated that the crew would prepare for the landing procedure but that the visibility had worsened; the connection was very weak due to the severe storm and heavy snow and rain fall. At 19:56 Flight 503 called Rome control for the last time when suddenly the communication was cut off.

The aircraft had crashed somewhere in the mountains of Rieti, Italy 100 km northeast of Rome and was now missing. Sabena itself got notified about the missing aircraft that same night at 23:15 but would not make an official statement until the morning of the following day.