ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 234170
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| Date: | Sunday 3 April 1910 |
| Time: | 13:15 |
| Type: |  Gas Balloon “Pommern” |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | unregistered |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Sassnitz, Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, State of Mecklenburg -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Stettin, Germany |
| Stettin, Germany | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
After ascending hit Telegraph wires and a factory chimney, badly injuring two of the occupants and making the ship uncontrollable. Drifting on the wind the craft eventually crashed into the sea near Sassnitz, drowning three persons. Delbrück, Benduhn and Hein. Semmelhack survived.
According to a contemporary local newspaper report ("Evening Express & Evening Mail, Cardiff 4 April 1910 - see link #2):
"BALLOON IN THE BALTIC
SASSNITZ, RUEGEN, Sunday.
The balloon Pommern, which ascended early this morning at Stettin, fell into the Baltic near Herenbad at a quarter-past one this afternoon. Amongst the four passengers in the car was Dr. Deibrueck, a well- known member of the Reichstag for Stettin. So far, two of them have been rescued. One of these had a foot broken, while the other sustained severe injuries to the head, which rendered him un-conscious.
A later message from Berlin says :-The luckless start of the Pommern on its wild flight was witnessed by thousands of terrified spectators. The balloon rose at 10.30 this morning from Zabelsdorf Gasworks at Stettin in a gale of wind. The balloon had hardly cleared the ground when it was driven into a network of telegraph wires. It tore free from these, breaking off the wires in its escape, but only to be hurled against the roof of a neighbouring factory. Twice it was thrown violently against an apparatus of water pipes on the roof, and rebounded against a factory chimney with such violence that the chimney snapped under the blow. The Pommern, getting clear, now rose into the air,'and vanished rapidly seawards.
The crowd below, seeing the car hanging down on one side at a sickening angle, broke into Shouts of terror, and, believing that the aeronauts had fallen out, ran after the rapidly disappearing balloon till it was out of sight. Nearly three hours later the Pofmmern was sighted at Sassnitz, on the Island of Ruegen, over 80 miles away, driving over the woods at a height of 1,503ft. Then suddenly it was carried away from the shore, and was seen to fall with terrible speed into the sea. Only one of the occupants seems to have escaped—a bank clerk, named Semmelhardt- who was able to save himself, and believes his three companions, Herr Delbrueck. an architect named Bridulm, and another, were drowned.—Reuter".
Sassnitz (before 1993 in German: Saßnitz) is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
Sources:
1. Algemeen Handelsblad 04-04-1910
2. Evening Express & Evening Mail (Cardiff) 4 April 1910: https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4216625/4216627
3. https://www.bridgemanimages.com/de/search.print?filter_text=kw%3Aballoon%20accident&explain_score=1&search_id=a3c6YmFsbG9vbiBhY2NpZGVudA%3D%3D-1565750398&search_depth=1&item_num=1&page=1
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassnitz
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szczecin#19th_to_20th_centuries
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Mar-2020 14:01 | Cobar | Added |
| 06-Sep-2022 15:10 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Registration, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 06-Sep-2022 15:11 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
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