Sabena Flight 548 was a Boeing 707-329 flight operated by Sabena that crashed en route from New York City to Brussels, Belgium on 15 February 1961. The flight, which had originated at Idlewild International Airport, crashed on approach to Brussels Airport, killing all 72 people on board and one person on the ground. The fatalities included the entire United States figure skating team, who were traveling to the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The precise cause of the crash remains unknown; the most likely explanation was thought to be a failure of the mechanism that adjusts the tail stabilizer.
Sister Aircraft OO-SJA in 1960
Crash site and debris
Image: Stephanie Westerfeld Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs (2)
Image: Sharon Lee Westerfeld Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs
The Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne, better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels Airport. After its bankruptcy in 2001, SN Brussels Airlines was formed through a takeover of former subsidiary Delta Air Transport and took over part of Sabena's assets in February 2002. SN Brussels Airlines merged with Virgin Express in 2007 to form Brussels Airlines. The airline's corporate headquarters were located in the Sabena House on the grounds of Brussels Airport in Zaventem.
A Fokker F.VII in Sabena colours
A Savoia-Marchetti SM.73 from Sabena, similar to the one that crashed in the 1935 crash.
Douglas DC-3 of Sabena in 1949
Sabena Douglas DC-6B arriving at Manchester Airport from New York in 1955