Date:	Tuesday 14 March 1939
Time:	04:57
Type:	Junkers Ju-52/3mge
Owner/operator:	Sabena
Registration:	OO-AUA
MSN:	5815
Year of manufacture:	1937
Engine model:	BMW 132
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Sint-Stevens-Woluwe -   Belgium
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	London-Croydon Airport (-/-)
Destination airport:	Brussel-Haren Airport
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The Junkers Ju-52/3mge, registered OO-AUA, departed London-Croydon Airport, U.K. at 03:20 hours GMT, bound for Brussel-Haren Airport in Belgium. It was a night-time postal flight with three crew members on board.
At 04:01 GMT the flight crew contact Brussels by radio and were given the latest weather observations: Moderate rain, Visibility 2 km, 10/10 low clouds SW wind at 30 km, ground pressure: 1016, 4 millibars. Last radio contact was at 04:55 GMT when the flight was about to land. Witnesses at the control tower saw the aircraft crossing the aerodrome at an altitude estimated at 50 - 60 m. It then descended to 10-20 meters until a go around was performed. Shortly afterwards the aircraft crashed in a field.

Crashed in a field at Sint-Stevens-Woluwe and caught fire.

Conclusions (translated from French):
In conclusion, the accident appeared to us to be attributable to an error of the pilot who made a go-around when the aircraft was in the final landing phase, flaps out, and was already losing speed.
The pilot's pilot error was caused by an initial error of judgement, as he felt that he could land without facing the wind when he had taken a large margin of safety at high altitude, a margin required by the poor weather conditions and the lack of clearance from the aerodrome boundary in the direction of landing.
The pilot did not appear to be concerned about the required landing direction indicated to him by the "T" and the landing light location.
His decision seems to have been dictated by the fear of missing the ground that he had had a hard enough time finding after a trip that was probably painful.
In any event, the terminal services do not appear to be questionable as to the origin and consequences of the accident.

Belgian Civil Aircraft since 1920 / J.Appleton and A. Thys, 1980 (ISBN 0 904597 25 3)
Rapport d’enquete etabli suite a l'accident survenu a l'aerodrome de Bruxelles (Haren) a l'avion Junkers Ju 52 immatricule OO-AUA le 14 Mars 1939

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