Antoine de Saint-Exupéry | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

The crew was performing a flight from New York to Punta Arenas, south Chile. While taking off from Guatemala City Airport, the aircraft was unable to gain height, stalled and crashed in a field past the runway end. Both occupants were injured and the aircraft was destroyed.
Crew:
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, pilot,
André Prévot, pilot.

Probable cause:

The aircraft could not takeoff due to a mistake in the fuel quantity. The crew made confusion between US and British gallons. So, the aircraft was too heavy upon departure and was unable to climb due to a considerable amount of fuel on board.

Crash of Caudron C.630 Simoun near Wadi El Natrun

Date & Time: Dec 29, 1935 at 0400 LT

Type of aircraft:

Caudron C.630/C.635 Simoun

Operator:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Registration:

F-ANRY

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Schedule:

Paris – Tunis – Benghazi – Cairo – Saigon

MSN:

7042

YOM:

1935

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Circumstances:

The Caudron C.630 Simoun with s/n 7042 was ordered in July 1935, built and delivered to its owner Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in September 1935. After several trips to Africa, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry decided at the end of December to fly from Paris to Saigon to establish a new record. After 19 hours and 38 minutes of flight, while cruising at night between Benghazi and Cairo, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with heavy rain falls. The crew decided first to climb to 2,500 metres but cumulus were still there so he reduced his altitude to 1,000 metres then 400 metres and lower until the aircraft struck the top of a sandy plateau. Upon touchdown, the airplane lost its undercarriage and slid for few dozen metres before coming to rest in a desert area located some 20 km north of Wadi El Natrun. Both occupants were uninjured but walked away for four days before being rescued by locals. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.