1938 Santa Ana air show disaster

The 1938 Santa Ana air show disaster occurred on 24 July 1938 at a military review on the Campo de Marte in the Santa Ana district of Bogota, Colombia. During the review, a Curtiss Hawk II biplane of the Colombian Air Force piloted by Lieutenant César Abadia performed a stunt before crashing into a grandstand and then into the crowd.

1938 Santa Ana air show disaster
A similar Hawk II of the Colombian Air Force
Accident
Date24 July 1938 (1938-07-24)
SummaryPilot error
SiteCampo de Marte, Bogota, Colombia
04°41′07″N 074°02′15″W
Aircraft
Aircraft typeCurtiss Hawk II
OperatorColombian Air Force
Crew1
Fatalities53 (including 52 on ground)[1]
Injuries100+ (on ground)

The pilot attempted to fly between the presidential stand and the stand for diplomats when he miscalculated the distance and the aircraft's wing-tip struck the diplomatic stand. The Hawk II destroyed part of the roof of the presidential stand and then careened through the crowd bursting into flames before it came to a stop upside down.[2] Over fifty people, including civilians and soldiers were killed, and over a hundred injured.[3] Among those in the presidential stand but uninjured were the outgoing Colombian President Alfonso López Pumarejo and his successor Eduardo Santos.[4] Among the wounded was Misael Pastrana Borrero, a future president of Colombia.

See also

References

  1. "Accident Details". Plane Crash info.com. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  2. "Plane's Crash into Crowd – 140 Killed and Injured". The Times. No. 48056. London. 26 July 1938. p. 12.
  3. "Accident Synopsis – 1938-28". planecrashinfo.com. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  4. "Plane crashes into crowd as number killed". The Advertiser. 25 July 1938. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
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