Lot No. 864
| Auction No. | 18 |
| Category |
Airmails |
| Est. | $190 |
| Status | SOLD $370 |
1974 (18th Nov) Helsinki to Johannesburg Nairobi Lufthansa crash cover bearing a strike in violet of the English/Afrikaans cachet, "RECOVERED FROM AIR CRASH ON 20 NOVEMBER 1974 AT NAIROBI / HERWEN VAN LUGRAMP OP 20 NOVEMBER 1974 TE NAIROBI." Finnish stamps tied Helsinki Helsingfors 10 cds for 18 11 1974. Some faults as usual but scarce. Lufthansa 540 from Frankfurt to Johannesburg crashed on take-off from Nairobi Embakasi airport on the morning of 20 November 1974. The flight crew of the Boeing 747 "Hessen". There were 61 fatalities with the aircraft completely destroyed by fire. Investigation determined that the cause of the crash was a stall at low altitude precipitated by pilot error in not extending the leading edge flaps for take-off. This procedure is now automated on 747's in current service. Recovered mail (mainly destined for South Africa) was forwarded on after receiving the bilingual English/Afrikaans cachet.
Image represents the entire lot.