1948 Sabena Douglas DC-4 crash
Douglas DC-4-1009 · Weather, flew into a tornado, loss of control
From Palmietfontein Airport, South Africa to Haren Airport, Belgium
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 31 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 32
- Survivors
- 1
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 1
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Douglas DC-4-1009
- Aircraft type
- Douglas DC-4
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- OO-CBE
- Operator
- Sabena
- Onboard fatalities
- 31
- Route
- From Palmietfontein Airport, South AfricaTo Haren Airport, Belgium
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Libenge, near the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
The 1948 Sabena Douglas DC-4 crash occurred on 12 May 1948 when a Sabena Douglas DC-4 crashed 27 km south of Libenge, Belgian Congo. It was the deadliest accident for Sabena at the time and the second of three deadly Sabena crashes in 1948. It was also the deadliest in Belgian Congo before the country's independence as the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1960. Of the 32 people on board, 31 were killed, leaving only one survivor.
Crash
The Sabena flight departed from Léopoldville-N'Djili Airport en route to Libenge Airport with 25 passengers and seven crew members on board. Mid-flight, the aircraft mysteriously began to lose control, subsequently plummeting into the rainforest at high speeds.
Investigation and cause
Probable cause
While above the Congo rainforest, 27 km south of Libenge, at an altitude of 700 ft, the aircraft probably penetrated a very turbulent line of clouds or flew the aircraft into the active centre of a tornado at a low altitude. The aircraft was probably then forced to the ground by a downward gust.
The aircraft hit the tree-tops and left a 200 m trail through the forest until it finally crashed, killing all seven crew members and 24 of the 25 passengers. The sole survivor was an Egyptian man.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1948 Sabena Douglas DC-4 crash” (revision 1354281586, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1948 Sabena Douglas DC-4 crash
- Revision
- 1354281586 · 2026-05-15 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q25230756
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1948 Sabena Douglas DC-4 crash" (page 50026453, revision 1354281586)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata coordinates)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator is an airline according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.