Mazerolles air crash of 26 August 1938

On 26 August 1938 a Potez 540 bomber of the 36ème Escadre de reconnaissance crashed at Mazerolles during an emergency landing, killing all four crew members.

The accident

At 20:30 on 26 August 1938 13 Potez 540 twin-engine bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of Groupe de reconnaissance II/36 (36ème Escadre de reconnaissance) took off from Pau airfield for a navigation training mission. At 20:00 the weather conditions were good, but they worsened rapidly. The bombers were to carry out a night navigation training mission on the route Pau-Bordeaux-Toulouse, with reconnaissance of railway activity. While they were in flight, radio messages transmitted to the aircraft reported the change in atmospheric conditions, with a rapid deterioration of visibility, and the bombers tried to return to their departure base. The aircraft of Commandant Louchard, which was flying without visibility at 250 m, descended to a lower altitude, coming out of the fog, and when he saw the lights of the road coming from Bordeaux he managed to land at 01:15.

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Marie Fernand Cornillon, commander of the 36ème Escadre de reconnaissance, noticed, at an altitude of 800 m, the long longitudinal strips parallel to the gave (a torrential watercourse in the Pyrenees), the small river that passed near the airfield. A corridor between two strips of ground allowed him to see the lights on the ground and he landed at 00:30. Commandant Héraud flew over the airfield at 23:07; through a gap he could clearly see the south-east lights of the field as well as the beacon, but the rest of the runway was covered in fog, so he diverted towards Toulouse where he landed without problems.

The escadrille of 4 Potez 540s of which Potez 540 no. 136 was a part was to take off and split into two pairs: two aircraft were to cover the route Pau–Lyon–Pau; the other two the route Pau–Istres–Pau. At 18:00, shortly before take-off, the crews met near the Eiffel hangars. Under the direction of A/C Lartigue, the hangar manager, the aircraft were brought out for refuelling at the fuel pump. During the return two aircraft of the patrol turned to land at Toulouse, while the other two went on approach to Pau airfield.

Potez 540 no. 136 was flown by Commandant Jean Baptiste Bes, a veteran officer, while the other crew members were Chief Warrant Officer Jean Blanc, navigator Captain Henry Jacques Marie Prosper Verrier, and radio operator Sergeant André Charles Marie Josset. Flying in darkness, Commandant Bes flew over the airfield, and then the village of Mazerolles (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). He circled around the village, with the engines at idle, looking for a place to land but, at 23:52, the aircraft crashed into a wooded area near Momas, not far from a mill. The right wing struck a tree, then the fuselage hit an oak, ending up in a pond after uprooting four oaks. The aircraft immediately caught fire, and the residents of the village, woken by the explosion, tried to help the unfortunate airmen without success. Debris from the Potez was found more than 70 m from the point of impact.

The second aircraft, Potez 540 no. 52, crashed at Montardon, with the loss of the entire crew.

The final report drawn up at the time by the Gendarmerie nationale of concluded with the following sentence: The two accidents are due to unfavourable atmospheric conditions. The two accidents, which occurred almost simultaneously, received great prominence in the press, making the front page of many newspapers. The prefect, the chief of staff and a special commissioner inspected the wreckage of the two aircraft. A funeral ceremony took place in the church of San-Martin-de-Pau, near the Boulevard des Pyrénées, in the presence of the bishop of Bayonne, Monsignor Henri Jean Houbaut, and was celebrated by Abbé Loustau, a war veteran, while the homily was given by Father Benjamen Bordachar, former volunteer military chaplain and superior of the college of Bétharram.

The wreckage of the two aircraft was subsequently recovered and scrapped.