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1948 Sabena Douglas C-47 crash

31 Aug 1948 · Near Kimbwe, Belgian Congo

Douglas C-47 · Accident

From Manono to Élizabethville (now Lubumbashi)

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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
13 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
13
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
Unknown
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 C-47

Aircraft type
Douglas C-47
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-CBL
Operator
Sabena
Onboard fatalities
13
Route
From ManonoTo Élizabethville (now Lubumbashi)

Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.

From the Wikipedia article

The 1948 Sabena Douglas C-47 crash was an aviation accident that occurred on 31 August 1948, near Kimbwe, in the Belgian Congo. The aircraft, a Douglas C-47A-10-DK registered as OO-CBL, was operated by the Belgian airline Sabena. It was en route from Manono to Élizabethville (now Lubumbashi), when it suddenly went out of control during its approach to the airport and crashed during the emergency landing. All 13 people on board, including three crew members, were killed. The exact cause of the crash remains undetermined despite favorable weather conditions at the time.

It was one of three fatal crashes that Sabena experienced in 1948, along with the Heathrow disaster on March 2, and the Sabena Douglas DC-4 crash on May 12.

Flight

The flight was a scheduled passenger flight from Costermans City via Manono to Élizabethville (now Lubumbashi) on 31 August 1948. The flight was operated by Sabena with a Douglas DC-3 aircraft. The aircraft carried 13 people, including 3 crew members.

Text from the Wikipedia article “1948 Sabena Douglas C-47 crash” (revision 1369365186, 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 C-47 crash
Article
1948 Sabena Douglas C-47 crash
Revision
1369365186 · 2026-08-14 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q109316024
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 C-47 crash" (page 77631002, revision 1369365186)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
Map position
none
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: total_fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.