AVIATION/ REMEMBERING THE TRAGEDY OF SABENA FL548

50 years ago today, SABENA Flight 548 crashed on approach to Brussels, Belgium, killing all 72 passengers and crew onboard, as well as 1 person on the ground. The crash hit the US hard, as the entire United States Figure Skating Team was onboard Flight 548, on their way to the 1961 World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The Boeing 707 departed from New York Idlewild International Airport, now knowns as JFK. Prior to departure, the Figure Skating Team posed for the picture shown above. The flight itself was routine, until the aircraft approached Brussels. Flight 548 was ordered to circle Brussels while waiting for a small plane to clear the runway. According to witnesses, while circling, the plane suddenly began to climb and bank erratically, and then stand straight up, before crashing into a field and bursting into flames, near the hamlet of Berg. A farmer working in the fields was killed by a piece of aluminum shrapnel, and another farmer had his leg amputated by flying debris from the plane. The exact cause of the crash was never determined beyond reasonable doubt, but investigators suspected that the aircraft may have been brought down by a failure of the stabilizer adjusting mechanism. All 18 athletes of the 1961 US figure skating team and 16 family members, coaches, and officials were among the fatalities. The dead included, most notably, 9-time US ladies' champion Maribel Vinson-Owen and her 2 daughters, reigning US ladies' champion Laurence Owen, reigning US pairs champions Maribel Y. Owen and her partner Dudley Richards, reigning US men's champion Bradley Lord, US men's silver medalist Gregory Kelley, US ladies' silver medalist Stephanie Westerfeld, US ladies' bronze medalist Rhode Lee Michelson and US ice dancing champions Diane Sherbloom and Larry Pierce. The loss of the US team was considered so catastrophic for the sport that the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships were cancelled. Although Scott Allen won a bronze medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics, the United States would not be dominant again in this sport until the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, where Peggy Fleming won gold in the ladies' event and Tim Wood the silver in the men's event.