Zodiac balloon accident

Deadly balloon crash in Noisy-le-Grand, France

The Zodiac balloon accident was the crash of a French military balloon at Noisy-le-Grand, France, on 17 April 1913, which killed five.

## Accident

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The spherical French military balloon Zodiac, inflated with "ordinary gas", departed from the Aero club park at St. Cloud, on 17 April 1913, shortly before 2 p.m., with five aboard, including "military aeronauts" Capt. Clavenad, Capt. De Noue, Lt. de Vaissalot, and Artilleryman Rechy, and civilian pilot Aumont-Thiéville. The craft was carried over Paris by a strong westerly wind towards Fontenay-sous-Bois. At 1430 hrs., M. Luisgnann, a cafe proprietor, observed the aeronauts throwing out ballast. The balloon was flying very low and a moment later the car of the balloon collided with a chimney and was thrown violently on its side. The car then cleared the chimney and the balloon proceeded.[1][2]

The occupants signaled distress, some apparently injured. The balloon was then blown against the side of a house, crashed into some telegraph wires, and then was blown away towards Villiers-sur-Marne. A few minutes later an explosion was heard, and the car hurtled to the ground.[1][2] Three of the aeronauts were killed outright, one died on the way to a hospital and the other died after reaching there.[3][4]

Two officers - Lieutenant de None and Lieutenant Vassalot de Regne - and Sergeant Richy [note variation in spellings from another account] were dead. A civilian named Aumont Thieville died soon thereafter. The fifth victim, Captain Clavenad, expired at 9 p.m. on 17 April.[1][2]

A wire service report gave the accident location as over Villiers-sur-Marne.[5][6]

Hilaire de Vasselot de Régné was one of the victims.[7] The civilian was Jacques Aumont-Thiéville.[8]

## References

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1. ^ a b c Wire report, "Explosion of Balloon: Five French Army Pilots Killed", Poverty Bay Herald, Gisborne, New Zealand, 29 May 1913, Volume XXXX, Number 13087.
2. ^ a b c Zealand, National Library of New. "Papers Past - EXPLOSION OF BALLOON. (Poverty Bay Herald, 1913-05-29)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
3. ^ Langland, James, M. A., compiler, "Almanac and Year-Book for 1914", The Chicago Daily News Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1913, page 396.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
4. ^ Plumbe, George Edward; Langland, James; Pike, Claude Othello (12 July 2017). "Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book". Chicago Daily News, Incorporated. Retrieved 12 July 2017 - via Google Books.
5. ^ Wire service, "Army Balloon Explodes; 3 Die", The Seattle Star, Seattle, Washington, Thursday 17 April 1913, Volume 15, Number 42, page 7.
6. ^ "The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, April 17, 1913, Image 7". 17 April 1913. p. 7. Retrieved 12 July 2017 - via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
7. ^ BROCARD, Laurent. "Past to Present: Hilaire de Vasselot de Régné". www.past-to-present.com. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
8. ^ "Jacques Aumont-Thiéville (1880-1913)".

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Aviation accidents and incidents before 1915

* Jun 15, 1785 De Rozier's balloon incident
* Apr 15, 1875 Zénith balloon incident
* Jul 16, 1889 Peter Campbell Airship disappearance
* Jul 12, 1897 Deutschland airship fire
* Jul 13, 1897 Arctic Balloon Expedition
* Feb 14, 1902 Santos-Dumont nº6 crash (Monaco)
* May 12, 1902 Pax airship disaster
* Oct 7, 1903 Langley Aerodrome
* Dec 8, 1903 Langley Aerodrome
* Jan 18, 1906 LZ 2
* Nov 30, 1907 Patrie airship disappearance
* Aug 8, 1908 LZ 4
* Sep 25, 1909 Lebaudy République airship
* Apr 24, 1910 Zeppelin LZ 5 crash
* Jul 13, 1910 Erbslöh airship crash
* May 21, 1911 Paris to Madrid air race accident
* Feb 17, 1912 Martin-Handasyde No. 3
* Jun 28, 1912 LZ 10 Schwaben
* May 13, 1912 Brooklands Flanders Monoplane crash
* Sep 10, 1912 Bristol Coanda Monoplane crash
* Dec 15, 1912 Handley Page Type F crash
* Apr 3, 1913 Zeppelin LZ16
* Apr 17, 1913 Zodiac balloon accident
* Aug 07, 1913 Cody Floatplane crash
* Sep 09, 1913 Helgoland disaster
* Oct 17, 1913 Johannisthal disaster
* Aug 06, 1914 Zeppelin LZ21
* Aug 21, 1914 Zeppelin LZ22
* Aug 23, 1914 Zeppelin LZ 23 shoot down
* Aug 28, 1914 Zeppelin LZ 20
* Oct 5, 1914 Aerial combat of 5 October 1914
* Oct 8, 1914 Zeppelin LZ 25
*   * For single-person aviation accidents see:
Aviators killed in early aviation accidents

► 1915

48°50′52″N 2°33′10″E﻿ / ﻿48.8478°N 2.5528°E﻿ / 48.8478; 2.5528
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