Zodiac balloon accident
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The Zodiac balloon accident was the crash of a French military balloon at Noisy-le-Grand, France, on 17 April 1913, which killed five.
Accident[edit]
The spherical French military balloon Zodiac, inflated with "ordinary gas", departed from the Aero club park at St. Cloud, on 17 April 1913, shortly before 2 p.m., with five aboard, including "military aeronauts" Capt. Clavenad, Capt. De Noue, Lt. de Vaissalot, and Artilleryman Rechy, and civilian pilot Aumont-Thiéville. The craft was carried over Paris by a strong westerly wind towards Fontenay-sous-Bois. At 1430 hrs., M. Luisgnann, a cafe proprietor, observed the aeronauts throwing out ballast. The balloon was flying very low and a moment later the car of the balloon collided with a chimney and was thrown violently on its side. The car then cleared the chimney and the balloon proceeded.[1][2]
The occupants signaled distress, some apparently injured. The balloon was then blown against the side of a house, crashed into some telegraph wires, and then was blown away towards Villiers-sur-Marne. A few minutes later an explosion was heard, and the car hurtled to the ground.[1][2] Three of the aeronauts were killed outright, one died on the way to a hospital and the other died after reaching there.[3][4]
Two officers - Lieutenant de None and Lieutenant Vassalot de Regne - and Sergeant Richy [note variation in spellings from another account] were dead. A civilian named Aumont Thieville died soon thereafter. The fifth victim, Captain Clavenad, expired at 9 p.m. on 17 April.[1][2]
A wire service report gave the accident location as over Villiers-sur-Marne.[5][6]
Hilaire de Vasselot de Régné was one of the victims.[7] The civilian was Jacques Aumont-Thiéville.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Wire report, "Explosion of Balloon: Five French Army Pilots Killed", Poverty Bay Herald, Gisborne, New Zealand, 29 May 1913, Volume XXXX, Number 13087.
- ^ a b c Zealand, National Library of New. "Papers Past - EXPLOSION OF BALLOON. (Poverty Bay Herald, 1913-05-29)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ Langland, James, M. A., compiler, "Almanac and Year-Book for 1914", The Chicago Daily News Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1913, page 396.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - ^ Plumbe, George Edward; Langland, James; Pike, Claude Othello (12 July 2017). "Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book". Chicago Daily News, Incorporated. Retrieved 12 July 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ Wire service, "Army Balloon Explodes; 3 Die", The Seattle Star, Seattle, Washington, Thursday 17 April 1913, Volume 15, Number 42, page 7.
- ^ "The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, April 17, 1913, Image 7". 17 April 1913. p. 7. Retrieved 12 July 2017 – via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
- ^ BROCARD, Laurent. "Past to Present: Hilaire de Vasselot de Régné". www.past-to-present.com. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ "Jacques Aumont-Thiéville (1880-1913)".
