1928 Dornier J Santos Dumont crash
Syndicato Condor Dornier Do J and Syndicato Condor Dornier Do J · Mid-air collision
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
- 14 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 19
- Survivors
- 0
- 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
- 0
- 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
- Unknown
Aircraft 1 · Dornier Do J
- Aircraft type
- Dornier DO
- 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
- P-BACA (Santos Dumont)
- Operator
- Syndicato Condor
- Onboard fatalities
- 14
- Occupants
- 14
- Survivors
- 0
- 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
- None · no survivors
- Route
- From Rio de JaneiroTo Rio de Janeiro
Aircraft 2 · Dornier Do J
- Aircraft type
- Dornier DO
- 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
- P-BAIA (Guanabara)
- Operator
- Syndicato Condor
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Occupants
- 5
- Survivors
- 5
- 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
- Not stated
- Route
- From Rio de JaneiroTo not recorded
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 3 December 1928, a Dornier Do J seaplane named after the Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos Dumont crashed into Guanabara Bay, Brazil, during the celebrations for the return of the aviator to his homeland.
On that occasion, several honours were organized, including the over-flight of the SS Cap Arcona ship by two Do Js flying boats of the Condor Syndicate.
Accident
The Dornier Do Js, P-BAIA Guanabara and P-BACA Santos Dumont, took off from Guanabara Bay and flew over the Cap Arcona, where they sent welcome messages to Alberto Santos Dumont. The Santos Dumont was flown by August Wilhem Paschen and was carrying nine passengers and crew, including friends of Santos Dumont and personalities of the time.
Due to the error of one of the pilots, the two aircraft entered a collision course, forcing the pilots to perform evasive maneuvers. The Guanabara escaped unscathed from the near collision, but the Santos Dumont crashed into Guanabara Bay, watched by the crew and passengers of the Arcona, including Santos Dumont. Depressed, he suspended the festivities and returned to Paris. Despite rescue efforts led by the Brazilian Navy destroyers Amazonas and Pará, only the mechanic of the aircraft, Walter Hasseldorf, survived the crash, dying hours later.
During the removal of the bodies and the remains of the aircraft, a Brazilian Navy diver died.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1928 Dornier J Santos Dumont crash” (revision 1345571705, 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: 1928 Dornier J Santos Dumont crash
- Revision
- 1345571705 · 2026-03-26 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q10356053
- 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 "1928 Dornier J Santos Dumont crash" (page 61310575, revision 1345571705)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
- Map position
- Wikipedia article 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
- not stated in the Wikipedia article's infobox or opening paragraph
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: total_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.