Sabena Flight 548

Sabena Flight 548 was a scheduled international passenger flight from New York City to Brussels, Belgium. On 15 February 1961, its Boeing 707 crashed while approaching Brussels Airport. All 72 people aboard were killed, along with one person on the ground. The dead included the entire United States figure skating team traveling to Prague. The precise cause remains unknown, though a tail stabilizer adjustment mechanism failure was considered the most likely explanation.

Date

15 February 1961

Route

Idlewild Airport, New York City, to Brussels Airport, Belgium

Likely explanation

Failure of the mechanism that adjusts the tail stabilizer