Sabena Flight 548: A Fatal Crash That Shook the World of Sports
The tragic crash of Sabena Flight 548 on February 15, 1961, shook the world of sports and aviation. The Boeing 707-329 aircraft, with registration OO-SJB, took off from Idlewild Airport in New York bound for Brussels Zaventem, but never reached its destination.
The crew, led by Captain Louis Lambrechts, a veteran pilot with 15,384 flying hours, and Jean Roy, with 16,231 hours of experience, fought to control the aircraft as it circled the airport three times. Witnesses described the plane's erratic behavior, with steep bank angles and a near-vertical descent.
The investigation concluded that a mechanical failure in the flight controls was likely responsible for the crash. The FAA suspected a problem with the tail stabiliser-adjusting mechanism, which could have caused the horizontal stabiliser to jam nose-up. This would explain the crew's struggles to control the plane.