Sabena 548: Flight Control Failure Wipes Out US Figure Skating Team
The Sabena Boeing 707 crash on February 15, 1961, was one of the deadliest air disasters in history. The plane, registration OO-SJB, was flying from New York's Idlewild Airport to Brussels Zaventem when it crashed into a field at Berg, killing all 72 people on board and a farmer working nearby.
Among the victims were the entire United States figure skating team, which was en route to the World Championships in Prague. The team consisted of 18 skaters, six coaches, the team manager, two judges, a referee, and six family members, making up nearly half of the people on the plane.
The cause of the crash remains unclear, but investigators concluded that it was likely due to a mechanical failure in the flight controls. The FAA suspected that the tail stabiliser-adjusting mechanism had failed, causing the plane to climb into a near-vertical bank and spiral to the ground.