Crash site	Aracaju, Brazil
Airline	Air France
Aircraft	Latécoère 28-1 – F-AJIQ – Brisa do Terra
Route	Santiago de Chile – Buenos Aires – Rio de Janeiro – Salvador de Bahia – Natal – Dakar – Paris
Crew	4 – no survivors
Passengers	0

 

The crash

The mail plane left Salvador de Bahia on 4 November 1935. A few minutes after the departure the pilot informed the control center that everything was OK on board, but shortly after there was no more contact with the plane.
Two other planes searched along the coast for around 24 hours. Finally they discovered debris and some mail bags on a small beach near Aracaju where the plane had crashed into the sea.
The reason for the crash has never been determined.

 

The mail

In total 17 mail bags were recovered. The bags were brought back to Salvador de Bahia by car and then by plane to Natal. The mail for Europe was flown direct from Natal to Toulouse, France by the famous French pilot Jean Mermoz in the Blériot “Santos Dumont”. The mail arrived in Toulouse on 13 November. From here the mail was forwarded to the other European countries.
The French authorities produced a 2-line handstamp which can be seen on most of the mail. Badly damaged mail was forwarded in the standard French service cover (No 827).

I have recorded a few covers addressed to Denmark and Sweden. These were sent from Argentina, Chile or Uruguay. No special Nordic markings have been recorded.

 

A.
French handstamp used in Toulouse.
Violet.
Size: 64 x 11 mm.
Note the date “3 NOVEMBRE 1935” which is wrong.
Plane crashed 4 November.

 

 

 

B.
Danish manuscript marking applied at the
Sønderborg Post Office.
“Arrived without stamp / handstamp / 19/11 35 H. Pedersen“

 

 

 

 

 

 Examples of mail
​

Cover from Argentina postmarked  SERV. AEROPOSTAL BUENOS AIRES  2.11.35 addressed to Denmark with French crash handstamp type A. One 10 c. stamp has floated off. Thiesen Collection.
Cover from Santa Fe, Argentina to Sønderborg, Denmark with no stamps left. French handstamp type A and the Danish marking type B mentioned above. Private Collection.
Cover from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Sweden with stamps partially missing. French handstamp type A and French service cover postmarked TOULOUSE REBUTS 17.11.35. Thiesen Collection.
Cover from Chile postmarked SANTIAGO -1 NO 35 and addressed to Stockholm, Sweden with the French crash handstamp type A. Thiesen Collection.
Cover from Uruguay postmarked MONTEVIDEO 1 XI 35 to Gothenburg, Sweden with one stamp missing. French handstamp type A and French service cover postmarked TOULOUSE REBUTS 15.11.35. Thiesen Collection.