Date & Time:
May 20, 1940 at 1145 LT
Type of aircraft:
Lioré-et-Olivier LeO 45 (451-459)
Operator:
Registration:
L-638
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Orléans - Orléans
MSN:
102
YOM:
1940
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The airplane departed Orléans-Bricy AFB to bomb a column of tanks east of Saint Quentin. While attacked by Me.109, the pilot elected to evacuate the area. Flying at a too low altitude, the airplane collided with power lines and crashed in a field, bursting into flames. All four crew members were killed.
Crew:
Adj André René Lucien Vuathelot, pilot,
Adj Jacques Louis Mac-Guiness, pilot,
Adj Raymond Eugène Maffat, radio operator,
Sgt Henri Hippolyte Legrand, air gunner.
Crew:
Adj André René Lucien Vuathelot, pilot,
Adj Jacques Louis Mac-Guiness, pilot,
Adj Raymond Eugène Maffat, radio operator,
Sgt Henri Hippolyte Legrand, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Loss of control following an in-flight collision with power cables.
