FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

Albon air accident of 27 July 1938

27 Jul 1938 · Albon

Armée de l'air Bloch MB.200 · Accident

From Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (LFMI) to an unrecorded destination

Report a problem

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
5 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
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
Military

Bloch MB.200

Aircraft type
Bloch MB-200
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
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
5
Route
From Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (LFMI)To not recorded

Approximate · Estimated position: Albon, Drôme, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.

From the Wikipedia article

On 27 July 1938 a Bloch MB 200 bomber of the Centre d'Essais en vol at Istres crashed at Albon during a transfer flight to Lyon-Bron airport, in the course of a night exercise, killing all five crew members.

The accident

On 27 July 1938 the twin-engine Bloch MB 200 bomber n.48 of the Centre d'Essais en vol at Istres crashed on the hill of La Tour at Albon, in a place called "Fond Flachier", a few kilometres east of the Saint-Rambert-d'Albon airfield, about 30 km south of Vienne.

The aircraft had been taking part in a night exercise together with the aircraft of air base 105 at Bron. Having taken off from Istres at 21:45, the aircraft crashed to the ground at 22:35 for no apparent reason. Witnesses saw the aircraft's navigation lights and heard the regular hum of the engines, but at very low altitude, as if it were trying to land at the nearby airport. The night was clear and windless and the witnesses heard the crash and saw the glow of the fire rise up.

The crew consisted of Second Lieutenant P. Richaud, aircraft commander, Warrant Officer P. Courant, pilot, Staff Sergeant A. Perlat, co-pilot, Warrant Officer P. Cazenave, radio operator, and Staff Sergeant J. Brunet, engine mechanic.

A commemorative stele in memory of the crew of the Bloch MB 200 was erected near the locality of Albon, on 27 July 1938. It was restored in 2000 by the municipality of Albon, at the intervention of the Association Rhodanienne pour le Souvenir Aérien (ARSA).

Translated into English with AI assistance from the Italian Wikipedia article “Incidente aereo di Albon del 27 luglio 1938” (revision 137335258, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article

Sources

Italian Wikipedia article: Incidente aereo di Albon del 27 luglio 1938
Article
Incidente aereo di Albon del 27 luglio 1938
Translation
Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
Revision
137335258 · 2024-01-14 · retrieved 2026-09-19
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
it Wikipedia article "Incidente aereo di Albon del 27 luglio 1938" (page 9623826, revision 137335258), translated into English with AI assistance
Date
Reviewed correction (2026-09-19): The infobox gives 10 May 1938, but the article's title and text and its cited source ("Accident d'un Bloch 200 à Albon dans la Drôme, le 27 juillet 1938") all give 27 July 1938.
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 named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Italian Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.