History of aviation – October 23, 1909. On this October 23, 1909, a major air show opens in Antwerp, which will be the last of the year. This aeronautical event will take place for one week. Unfortunately, on the first day of competition, the organizers of the event will have to deplore an accident. But more fear than harm and luckily, this crash did not cause any deaths.
The aviator who was the victim of this tragedy is none other than Baron de Caters, a pilot of Belgian nationality. If he crashed his plane and got a big scare, he’ll only come out of this mess with some scratches! The reasons for his fall are not clearly identified: everyone has a theory on the question. For some, the engine misfires of his plane are to blame, for others, it is simply a gust of wind which destabilized the aviator.
November 2, 1909 marked the end of the meeting which saw the aviators Rougier, Brégi, Olieslagers, Van den Bren and Count Henry de la Vaulx, among others. Many events are on the program, particularly in terms of altitude, with 5,000 and 2,500 francs at stake for the 1ster and the 2e of the classification or distance with this time 25,000 francs for the winner and 7,500 francs for the driver on the second step of the podium.
