Sabena Flight 548
Crash site and debris | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 15 February 1961 |
| Summary | Loss of control for undetermined reasons (possible mechanical failure) |
| Site | |
| Total fatalities | 73 |
| Total injuries | 1 |
| Aircraft | |
| OO-SJB, the aircraft involved in the accident, at Manchester Airport on 28 May 1960. The ventral vane would not be added until January 11, 1961. | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 707-329 |
| Operator | Sabena |
| IATA flight No. | SN548 |
| ICAO flight No. | SAB548 |
| Call sign | SABENA 548 |
| Registration | OO-SJB |
| Flight origin | Idlewild Airport, New York |
| Destination | Brussels Airport, Zaventem |
| Occupants | 72 |
| Passengers | 61 |
| Crew | 11 |
| Fatalities | 72 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 1 |
| Ground injuries | 1 |
Sabena Flight 548 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Idlewild Airport in New York City to Brussels Airport in Belgium. On 15 February 1961, the Boeing 707-329 operating the flight 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, which was 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.
This was the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 707 in regular passenger service; it happened 28 months after the 707 airliner had been placed into commercial use. It remains the deadliest plane crash to have occurred on Belgian soil.