1932-02-27

Crash site Setiba, Brazil
Airline CGA (Compagnie Générale Aéropostale)
Aircraft Latécoère 28 – F-AJOX
Route Santiago – Buenos Aires – Montevideo – Recife – Natal – Dakar – Casablanca – Alicante – Toulouse – Paris
Crew 3  –  0 survivors
Passengers 0

 

The crash

On the flight to Recife and while flying along the Brazilian coast off Guarapari the crew encountered poor weather conditions with thunderstorm activity, heavy rain falls and turbulence. The plane crashed into the sea. Debris, cargo and the three dead crew members were found four days later on the beach of Sarita near Setiba.

 

The mail

As mentioned above the mail bags were found on the 2nd March. According to Nierinck 1.482 covers were recovered. A part of the mail was returned to the senders and some mail was forwarded to Europe via France.
Mail to the Nordic countries is scarce. Only two covers have been recorded – both are shown below.

 

A.
French handstamp used in Toulouse.
Black.
Size: 87 x 35 mm.

Translation:
Plane Crash
Correspondence recovered from sea
NOT TO TAX

This handstamp was also used on mail from other air
crashes forwarded via Toulouse in the years 1930 to 1932.

 

B.
Danish label.
Size:  72 x 42 mm.

Translation:
Entered Denmark damaged by water

 

 

C.
Norwegian handstamp.
Violet.
Size:  50 x 16 mm.

Translation: Hitkom makulert/Oslo postkontor
Arrived shredded/Oslo postkontor

 

Examples of mail

Registered cover from Paraguay postmarked ASUNCION and addressed to Copenhagen. On th back is the French crash handstamp Type A, a French transit postmark  PARIS R.P. REBUTS DE LA SEINE 14-3 32 and a Danish arrival postmark of Copenhagen KØBENHAVN 16.3.32.
Thiesen Collection.

Cover from Argentina addressed to Oslo, Norway with illegible postmark as stamps had fallen off. The cover arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark 11.3.32 (postmark of Airport Postoffice). In Copenhagen the label type B was attached on the back. The cover was then forwarded to Norway via Ed in Sweden (Norwegian railway postmark) 12.III.32. Later the same day it arrived in OSLO where 2 postmarks were applied over the Danish label.
Urbak Collection.