1961 — Feb 15, US Figure skating team/18 Sabena Air #548 crash, Berg, Belgium –49US of 73

–73 AP. “Air Crash Fatal to 73 is Probed.” Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA. 2-16-1961, p. 1.
–49 U.S.
–73 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 372.
–72 Everyone on board.
–61 Passengers
–18 US figure skating team.
–11 Crew
— 1 Farm owner where plane crashed.

Narrative Information

Feb 15: “Brussels, Belgium, Feb 15. (AP) – Sabena Airlines authorities speculated tonight that trouble in a Boeing 707’s control system led to the crash that killed 73 persons today, including 18 young American figure skating stars and 49 Americans in all.

“The transatlantic plane spun out of control in circling for a landing and crashed in a sunny farmyard, killing a Belgian farmer in addition to 61 passengers and 11 crew members. The wreckage burned. ‘Everything appeared normal until something happened which apparently affected the plane’s control system,’ said Willem Deswarte, Sabena’s general manager. ‘It was seen spinning around in an abnormal position before trying to regain height and then falling.’ Deswarte said ‘it does not seem that engine trouble was involved.’

“Among the Americans who perished were Mrs. Maribel Vinson Owen, 49, of Winchester, Mass., and two daughters. Mrs. Owen, nine times United States figure skating champion, was coach for the two girls, both members of a United States team heading to Prague Czechoslovakia, for the world figure skating championships scheduled to open February 22.

“Flames fed by bursting fuel tanks quickly engulfed the hulk of the $5,000,000 American-built plane, one of five of the type owned by the Belgian government’s Sabena Airlines.

“The flames frustrated rescue efforts of firemen who were speeding to help even while the plane was still erratically aloft, with engines sounding oddly, in the final stage of a flight from New York.

“‘It fell like a bomb,’ the airport tower commander said.

“Heat was so intense that part of the plane’s metal skin melted like butter. Debris was scattered for several hundred yards.

“The passengers apparently had been warned to expect trouble. Many bodies were found in a crouching position – head down, knees together – adopted in crash landings.

“The young athletes of the skating team formed the fifth major sports group wiped out by plane crashes in a dozen years. Sixteen members of the California Poly football team were killed in the crackup of a chartered plane at Toledo last October 29. Sports victims of other crashes were soccer teams of Italy, Britain and Denmark.

“The United States skating team’s outstanding performer was Mrs. Owen’s 16-year-old daughter Laurence, an American hope in the 1964 Olympics. She won the North American championship at Philadelphia last weekend. Her sister Maribel, 20, was a team member who skated with Dudley Richards of Boston in Paris competition. He was killed, along with these other members of the team:

Steffi Westerfield and Gregory Kelley, Colorado Springs, Colo.;
Bradley Lord, Boston;
Donna Lee Carrier, Diane Sherbloom and Roger Campbell, Los Angeles;
Rhodie Michelson, Long Beach, Calif.’
Douglas Ramsay, Detroit;
Ray and Ila Rae Hadley, Seattle;
Larry Pierce, Indianapolis;
Robert and Patrice Dineen, New York;
Laurie and Bill Hickox of Berkeley, Calif.

“The Hadleys and Hickoxes were brothers and sisters, the Dineens husband and wife.” (Associated Press. “Air Crash Fatal to 73 is Probed.” Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA. 2-16-1961, p. 1.)

Sources Cited

Associated Press. “Air Crash Fatal to 73 is Probed.” Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA. 2-16-1961, p. 1. Accessed 2-13-2020 at: https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y6BWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y-cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6629%2C4868375

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Additional References

Barron, Laignee. “In 1961 a Plane Crash Killed the Entire U.S. Figure Skating Team. Here’s How the Tragic Legacy Lives on.” Time. 2-23-2018. Accessed 7-3-2020 at: https://time.com/5172201/1961-plane-crash-us-figure-skating/

Ford, Bonnie D. “Still Crystal Clear.” ESPN.com. Accessed 7-3-2020 at: http://www.espn.com/espn/eticket/story?page=110215/skatingcrash

Treviño, Julissa. “The Devastating Impact of the 1961 Plane Crash That Wiped Out the Entire U.S. Figure Skating Team.” Smithsonian Magazine, 2-15-2018. Accessed 2-13-2020 at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1961-plane-crash-killed-us-figure-staking-team-headed-championships-180968171/