Friday, November 6, 2009

German prince injured in plane crash


November 6, 1929

Prince Eugen of Schaumburg-Lippe escaped through the torn fuselage of a "large German air liner" that had crashed into a "clump of trees on a hillside and burst into the flames.

Six of the eight people aboard the airplane were killed. The plane was bound from Croydon to Berlin today, according to the Associated Press.
The Prince was the second pilot on the plane. Commander Glem Kidston, a racing driver, was also able to escape through the fuselage. Both men were badly burned.

The accident occurred after the pilot lost his way in the fog. The pilot was also killed.

Prince Eugen "was so burned about the face that he was scarcely recognizable." All of his clothing was "burned from his body. He was identified after being taken to a local hospital.

Prince Eugen, 30, is the eldest son of Prince Maximilian of Schaumburg-Lippe and his wife, Duchess Olga of Württemberg. This was the prince's first air accident, "although he had risked his life scores of times." He is a stunt flyer "by inclination," and only two weeks ago he "performed hair-raising stunts" over Berlin's Templehof Air Field, where he swung from a trapeze hanging from a flying airplane. He was working on his qualifications for the Berlin-Croydon-Amsterdam service for a full pilot's license.

[Prince Eugen is on the right in the photo.]

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