Aviation History – July 6, 1914. A fatal air accident will take place on this Monday, July 6, 1914 in Saumur, whose victim is none other than a famous aviator, in the person of Georges Legagneux. The latter thus succumbed on this day, tragically, when he was only 31 years old.
A drama that occurred in the context of an exhibition that the pilot, patented since April 19, 1910, having won the famous sesame bearing the number 55, was performing at the Huraudières aerodrome. His device is clearly involved in this accident, more precisely the propeller of his airplane which will break. Result of this failure, Georges Legagneux will fall steeply into the Loire.
The French aviation thus deplores the death of one of its great representatives, whose future was promising given the fine performances already signed by our “bird-man”, as he was nicknamed. Holder of several records, in terms of altitude among others, he was the author, on July 29, 1909, of the first flight of a motorized airplane in Sweden but also of the first flight of more than 500 kilometers, on December 21, 1910 Going back further in time, on August 19, 1908, he won third prize in the Aero-Club 200 meters at the controls of a Ferber IX.
