Air France Latecoere 631: When the flying boat disappeared from Lake Geneva into the Atlantic
In June 1948, a Latécoère 631 flying boat landed on Lake Geneva. Less than two months after the special flight, the Air France machine crashed into the Atlantic.
In June 1948, Lake Geneva received a very special visit. A six-engine Latécoère 631 flying boat landed on Swiss waters. Powered by six engines and with a wingspan of more than 57 metres, the Air France machine must have made a strong impression. Photos show them between excursion boats.
The visit to Switzerland was not part of a normal scheduled service, but a special flight. From Geneva it goes to Biscarrosse in France and from there on to the normal Air France route towards Fort de France in the overseas department of Martinique.
Regular flights to Martinique
The French-made flying boat transported, among other things, more than 10,000 postal items from Geneva and 1,200 from Liechtenstein, according to the stamp portal Philamondo writes. There were also special stamps, postmarks and envelopes with the words “Presentation a Geneve de L’Hydravion Latecoere 631” for the occasion.
Air France had been serving the route from Biscarrosse to Fort de France since the summer of 1947 with Laté 631 flying boats, to give it the short form. However, in February 1948, one of the machines, registered F-BDRD, crashed into the English Channel in a snowstorm. And the machine from Lake Geneva, F-BDRC, also came to a tragic end.
Disappeared over the Atlantic
On July 31, she was on her way from Martinique to what was then Port-Etienne, now Nouadhibou, in Mauritania. There she was supposed to stop for gas on the way back to Europe. But F-BDRC never arrived. The flying boat disappeared over the Atlantic.
A search operation only found some debris from the machine. There was never any information about the reason for the accident, which probably occurred around 1,900 kilometers west of Dakar in Senegal on the night of August 1st. All twelve crew members and 40 passengers died.
In the picture gallery above you can see photos of the F-BDRC in Geneva.