Malabar Princess, ex-Constellation, crashed in 1950. For the 70th anniversary of the last Constellation, an archaeologist offered a bottle found at the crash site.
Article published on June 23, 2023 - Le courrier du Pays de Retz -
SAINT-AIGNAN DE GRAND LIEU
Josée de Vérité Mermoud, amateur archaeologist and sculptor, lives in Chamonix. She surveys Mont-Blanc to find elements of the planes that
crushed. “Every year, the glaciers reject objects that I collect and sculpt,” comments the visual artist. I have often carried them with great difficulty and always with emotion. »
The Malabar Princess is an ancient Constellation
The Malabar Princess is a former Constellation which crashed on Mont Blanc on November 3, 1950. There were no survivors among the 40 passengers and
8 crew members. “I found a bottle from the Malabar Princess at an altitude of 1,750 m, in a glacier, very accessible at the time. »
Each piece discovered is dated and signed. This bottle, quite heavy, is in reality a fire extinguisher which was used for the engine and in the hold of the plane, which had six of them.
Josée de Vérité Mermoud traveled from Chamonix to Nantes for the 70th anniversary of the Super Constellation and offered the bottle to the Super Constellation Association, giving it to its president, Patrick Pelletier. The object is on display in Super Constellation aircraft no. 4519, visible during visits on Saturday June 24, for the 70th anniversary.
A plane classified as a historic monument
Super Constellation No. 4519, type Lockheed L-1049 C, was delivered to Air France on November 2, 1953. “It is today the only survivor of the 24 aircraft purchased by the French Company from Lockheed. » Put into commercial service on November 15, 1953, it opened the most prestigious lines. “Registered BGNJ, it traveled the whole world transporting the greatest celebrities of the time from Paris to Buenos Aires, from New York to Paris... It was August 8, 1967, after 24,284 hours of flight under its colors, that he was removed from the fleet. »
It is then used to carry out medical evacuations in Biafra.
“The Super Constellation landed definitively in Nantes, for its last flight in 1974. In 1999, it was bought by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Nantes-Atlantique Airport, and was entrusted to our association for its restoration. » The Super Constellation association was created in 2000, following the purchase of the aircraft.
Saturday June 24, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and every Saturday until the end of October, guided tour of the Super Constellation, road from Frémiou to Saint-Aignan-de-Grandlieu, airport area, at the roundabout point of the leaning door. Registration on 06 10 41 79 33 or on contact@superconstellation-nantes.fr
