Lockheed L-1049G ENABEL

In 1956 ENABEL (Exploitation de Navigation Aerienne BELge) received the first of many Constellations. Operating the G model first all up until the Starliner. This aircraft was well known among the Belgian population since the country is so small the moment they enter the country they are already beneath FL150, when coming from the north or south, even lower. ENABEL also made it very clear they operated the type by numerous ad campaigns comparing the aircraft to the many works of art Belgium has to offer.

Only one major incident happened during Constellation operations. On the 2nd of July, coming from JFK, ship -FRS ("OSTENDE") lost power on three engines on final because of a big flock of geese flying into the engines and propellers. Bystanders reported big clouds of smoke bellowing behind the aircraft. The pilots found a suitable place to put the aircraft down since they knew the runway could not be reached. The Captain did his best but eventually FRS lost too much speed and crash landed hitting a farmers house with its left wing. The impact was too great for recovery to be possible and it cartwheeled once before coming to its final resting place in a field of sugar beets. Miraculously, the co-pilot survived the ordeal together with 4 other passengers. Sadly the rest of the crew, along with 56 passengers, was fatally wounded on impact. A memorial now stands where it happened, with the central fin with all the names of the perished engraved into it placed vertically on a concrete bloc. Damage of the crash is still visible on the lower part of the fin.