AEROPHIL
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Phone & Fax +1 203 888 9237
AIR CRASH COVERS - April 2008
I have a large stock of air crash
covers. This is a small selection of my stock. Please send me an
email and let me know what type of crash covers you are interested in.
Prices are plus actual postage
281231
or 290101 (Nierinck 281231) – Pan American Airways – Loening Air
Yacht (NC9713) –
300219 - NYRBA - Legal size cover from triple crashes - postmarked Buenos Aires 19 Feb 1939, with 1st flight cachet - no backstamps - $125.00
360407 - TWA crash at Uniontown, Pennsylvania. 2 legal covers addressed to same company, forwarded together. Very scarce. $150.00
360930C - Schlessinger Air Race - Cover carried by A.E. Clouston, who crashed at Felixburgh, Southern Rhodesia. Autographed by Clouston on reverse, and stamped on arrival at Germiston, South Africa by Imperial Airways. Very scarce. $400.00
360822i - Imperial Airways “Scipio” crash at
360927a - Ala Littoria crash of the I-RODI at
371205a (Sanford no.) - Imperial Airways flying boat "Cygnus" crash at Brindisi, Italy on 5 Dec. 1937. Small cover from Lenggong, Malaya to Bristol, England. Covers from Malaya are scarce. $125.00
371001c
& j (
371001c & j (Sanford no.) - Imperial Airways “Courtier” crash at Phaleron Bay, Greece - Cover from Ein Harod, Palestine to Meckenheim, Germany with ‘c’ cachet & ‘j’ label on reverse - $350.00
371001c & j (Sanford no.) + unlisted German cachet reading: "Ohne Marke/eingegangen" (forwarded without stamp) - Cover from Tel Aviv, Palestine to Berlin, Germany - type 'c' cachet & 'j' label on reverse - $350.00
371001 c & j + unl German cachet.jpg
371205e (Sanford no.) - Imperial Airways flying boat "Cygnus" crash at Brindisi, Italy on 5 Dec. 1937. Legal cover from Tel Aviv, Palestine to Paris, with French sealing tape & Paris backstamp on reverse - Scarce from Palestine - Very attractive cover - $200.00
Imperial Airways flying boat crash - Unidentified cover from Palestine to London, England, which could be from 360822b "Scipio", 371001e "Courtier" or 371205b "Cygnus". The stamp has been washed off, along with the postmark date. $50.00
Unident crash Cover from Palestine.jpg
380323b - Air France crash at Cinq Croix, France - small registered cover from Cote d'Ivoire, Africa to France. Unlisted French sealing labels on reverse. Very scarce from Cote d'Ivoire - $200.00
380323b AF from Cote d'Ivoire.jpg
411030 ON - American Airlines crash at Sheddon, Ontario, Canada. Legal cover from New York, NY to Kenosha, Wisconsin with three line lavender cachet as in American Air Mail Catalogue + Detroit, Michigan ambulance cover. Very scarce and underpriced in Catalogue. $350.00
440210 - American Airlines crash at Memphis, Tennessee. Small cover from California to Wisconsin with "DAMAGE" cachet as in American Air Mail Catalogue. Very scarce and underpriced in Catalogue. $125.00
440829b - BOAC crash at Kinnekule, Sweden. Cover from Stockholm, Sweden to New York, NY, with U.S. censor tape. Very nice cover & very scarce. $350.00
441124 - U.S. Military aircraft crash somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Small cover from U.S. Army A.P.O. (957) postmarked Nov. 10/1944, addressed to Chicago, Illinois, with boxed two line magenta cachet "Unavoidably/Damaged in Transit" - Scarce - $250.00
460107 - U.S. Military aircraft crash at Tinian Island, Pacific Ocean. The aircraft was being operated by the Transport Air Group (TAG). Small cover from Illinois to a Fleet Post Office in the Pacific. It is burned on the left side and bottom. It is accompanied by a mimemograph slip reading "AIR MAIL CENTER/GUAM. The enclosed mail was salcaged from a TAG Plane Crash on Tinian 7 January, 1946. N.A. Davis/ENS., USNR/OFFICER IN CHARGE", and an ambulance cover from the Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, California. Also included is a short article about this crash, which was published in the American Air Mail Society's Airport Journal. A rare crash cover. $300.00
511214 - Swissair crash at Amsterdam, Netherlands. Cover from Milan, Italy to Amsterdam, Netherlands, with unlisted Dutch ambulance cover. $350.00
511214b - Swissair crash at Amsterdam, Netherlands. Cover from Milan, Italy to Amsterdam, Netherlands, with unlisted Dutch ambulance cover & type 'b' label. Very scarce - $375.00
611221a - British European Airways Comet jet crash at Ankara, Turkey. Cover from England to Haifa, Israel with type 'a' label cachet in Hebrew on reverse. Scarce. $300.00
680408a - BOAC crash at London, England. Aerogramme from Zambia to Israel with type 'a' cachet applied in Tel Aviv. Rare from Zambia. $250.00
680408a - BOAC crash at London, England. Cover from England to Israel with type 'a' cachet applied in Tel Aviv. $250.00
700221a - Swissair crash at Würenlingen, Switzerland. The flight was operating from Zurich to Tel Aviv and there was a bomb onboard. Postcard with type 'a' cachet as shown in Nierinck - Very scarce - $600.00
The following are Aircraft Accident Reports from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). They are very useful for collectors of crash covers.
Aircraft Crashes - Volume I - 1934-1944, on CD-ROM. Pub. by Media Surplus, Kearny, MO - PDF file format - US$15.00 plus postage
Aircraft Crashes - Volume I I- 1945-1955, on CD-ROM. Pub. by Media Surplus, Kearny, MO - PDF file format - US$15.00 plus postage
Aircraft Crashes - Volume 3 - 1956-1965, on CD-ROM. Pub. by Media Surplus, Kearny, MO - PDF file format - US$15.00 plus postage
TRAIN WRECK COVERS
Southern Pacific Train Wrecks - 1914-1987, on CD-ROM. Pub. by Media Surplus, Kearny, MO - Official Government train wreck investigation reports - PDF file format - US$15.00 plus postage
320912 - Small cover from Southern Pacific train wreck at Crystal Lake, Calif. - Meter franking New York, NY SEP 8'32, addressed to (window envelope), with two line violet cachet "Received in bad condition at/Oakland, Calif. plus manuscript date 9/12/32 From Train Wreck plus 'CLYDE E. SMITH/CARRIER #63 M./OAKLAND, CALIF." - Scarce - US$60.00
1. Small cover from wreck of Ogden & LA wreck 22 Aug. 37. Meter franking Irvington, New Jersey AUG 19, 37, addressed to Los Angeles, Calif. with red two line cachet "DAMAGED BY FIRE" - See La Catastrophe, whole no. 41, A45 for more information. US$125.00
2. Not used
3. Legal cover from wreck of Ogden & LA wreck 22 Aug. 37. Postmarked New York, NY AUG 19/1937, to Los Angeles, with two line magenta cachet "DAMAGED BY FIRE/OG&LA TR. AUG 22" - US$100.00
4. Legal cover from wreck of Ogden & LA wreck 22 Aug. 37. Meter franking Moston, MA AUG 19/1937, addressed to ? (window envelope) with purple three line cachet "DAMAGED BY/FIRE TR.5 AUG22/OGDEN & L A" - See La Catastrophe, whole no. 41, A45 for more information. US$100.00
5. Not used
6. On 28 February 1952, a flaming petrol tanker loaded with 6,800 gallons of 100 octane fuel, crashed through a guard rail and exploded on the main railway line east of Ogden, Utah. Almost immediately, a Union Pacific express train emerged from a tunnel and plunged into the flaming wreckage. The train was swept by fire and nine coaches were largely destroyed. It was the largest loss of mail in U.S. history. Legal cover - US$75.00
6A. – Another legal cover from 520228 at Ogden, Utah – US$90.00
7. not used
8. Damaged by fire – June 2, 1941 OG & SF TR. 21 – no information available – large documents cover – US$40.00
9. Fire in railway storage car while enroute to Portland, Oregon – April 9, 1960 – US$75.00 – cover is not as large as a legal cover – see A46 in La Catastrophe – Whole no. 42, page 18
10. Small cover from fire in U.S. Mail car on May 4, 1946 in transit on Seaboard Air Line Railway train No. 2, with Savannah, GA Post Office mimeo label. Very scarce train wreck cover - $100.00
11. Legal cover with meter franking New York JUL-3'52, addressed to Phoenix, AZ – US$100.00 – see details below
|
4
July 1952 |
Fire
at North Philadelphia Station, Pennsylvania, USA |
DAMAGED BY FIRE
IN STORAGE CAR
Type 1 cachet in black or magenta
DAMAGED BY FIRE
IN STORAGE CAR
Type 2 cachet
|
Fire was discovered in the
mails aboard the Pennsylvania Railroad’s train No. 11 (New York to St. Louis),
as it pulled into the North Philadelphia Station at 12:32 a.m. on 4 July
1952. A considerable amount of the mail was destroyed. It took Post Office
workers three days to re-envelope and forwarded the salvaged mail. Press cutting
available. Ref.: Luc
van Bogaert
Robin
David Morrison & Rod Dyke |
|
|
12. Legal cover – US$125.00 – see details above
13. Legal cover from Boston & Albany Train 143 wreck on or about 3 October 1963, includes Los Angeles Post Office mimeo & scarce ambulance cover – US$100.00
14. Cover from train wreck near Stockholm, Sweden on 6 September 1954. Meter franking at Vienna, Austria dated 3 Sep. 54, addressed to Stockholm, with four line purple cachet in Swedish, which translates: "This postal package has been delayed because of the train accident in Rörvik 6.9.1954. Postadministration in Stockholm D". Very scarce. US$125.00
SHIP WRECK COVERS
050306 - Wreck of ship SS Cairo, which ran ashore at the port of Alexandria, Egypt. Small mourning cover from Cadiz, Spain to Suez. Very unusual cover. $300.00
090228 - Wreck of ship SS Ville d'Alger collision with SS Orleanais in Marseilles harbor - small cover from ? to Paris with type 1 cachet as in Maritime Disaster Mail. The stamp has washed off, so it is not possible to determine the origin of the cover. Scarce. $350.00
090228 Ville d'Alger type 1.jpg
18 March 1918 - SS Kingstonian attacked by German submarine, but not sunk. Cover from Cairo, Egypt to Berne, Switzerland with black "NAUFRAGE" cachet, and "PASSED BY CENSOR" cachet. Very nice cover. $185.00
180411 SS Kingstonian shipwreck.jpg
18 March 1918 - SS Kingstonian attacked by German submarine, but not sunk. Active Service envelope from Field Post Office SZ 36 in Palestine, postmarked 22 March 1918, addressed to London, England, censor cachet on reverse – boxed magenta type 2 cachet “DAMAGED BY IMMERSION/IN SEA WATER”. $160.00
18 March 1918 - SS Kingstonian attacked by German submarine, but not sunk. Field Service Card with preformatted messages on back, postmarked Field Post Office 21 March 1918, censor cachet on reverse – boxed purple type 2 cachet “DAMAGED BY IMMERSION/IN SEA WATER”. $160.00
18 March 1918 - SS Kingstonian attacked by German submarine, but not sunk. Active Service envelope, indistinct postmark 22 March 1918, faint censor cachet on reverse – boxed purple type 2 cachet “DAMAGED BY IMMERSION/IN SEA WATER”. $140.00
25 February 1918 - SS Kingstonian attacked by German submarine, but not sunk. Cover from Punganur, India to (? addressed washed away) with three line purple type 10 cachet “R.E. Postal Sect. L’don N.W, 1/Damaged by immersion in sea/water through Enemy Action”, but the words “...ct. L’don N.W, 1” are not visible or didn’t print. Unusual from India, as most mail on this wreck is from Egypt. $200.00
1918 - Cover, which could be from any of the following shipwrecks in the Mediterranean: Airedale, Kingstonian, Sunik, or Warwickshire. Army Post Office SZ 10 (Cairo, Egypt) postmark dated 18 Mar. 1918, addressed to Kantara, Egypt. Church Army On Active Service envelope – very unusual – no wreck cachet. $110.00
1918 - Cover, which could be from any of the following shipwrecks in the Mediterranean: Airedale, Kingstonian, Sunik, or Warwickshire. Army Post Office EEF, Egypt postmark dated 26 Mar. 1918, addressed to Romsey, Hampshire, England. Red diamond "PASSED BY CENSOR" cachet – no wreck cachet. $75.00
1918 - Cover, which could be from any of the following shipwrecks in the Mediterranean: Airedale, Kingstonian, Sunik, or Warwickshire. Army Post Office SZ 44 (Egypt) postmark dated 31 Mar. 1918, addressed to Dartford, England. Lavender two line boxed cachet "DAMAGED BY IMMERSION/IN SEA WATER". $75.00
19 March 1918 - SS Kingstonian attacked by German submarine, but not sunk. Cover from Cairo, Egypt postmarked 19 March 1918, to Zurich, Switzerland. Has supplementary Army Post Office cancellation of 19 March 1918 & black “NAUFRAGE” type 18 cachet. $175.00
19 March 1918 - SS Kingstonian. Cover from ? to Scotland, postmark illegible, with single line violet type 6 cachet "SALVAGED LETTER", G.R. Officially Sealed label on reverse. $150.00
290908 - The steamer "Heimdall" ran aground and sank near Vaxholm, Sweden on 8 September 1929, while on the way from Stockholm to Åbo and Helsink, Finland. All the passengers and crew members were saved. On 10 September, divers recovered 209 bags of mail, together with some other cargo. The mails were returned to Stockholm and dried. After drying, most were forwarded, bearing the Swedish label as shown on this cover. The label translates: "The enclosed letter has been / damaged by water in the wreck / of steampship 'Heimdalls' on the 8 September 1929 in / Stockholm's archipelago. / Post Director for / Stockholm District." Cover from Davos, Switzerland to Finland. $160.00
410128 - The Dutch steamer "SS Alhena" ran aground at Pladdy Rock, near South Rock, South Bay, County Down, Northern Ireland. Cover from London, England to Tel Aviv, Palestine with E.R. sealing tape and two line boxed black cachet "DAMAGED BY SEA/WATER" on reverse. $185.00
410128 SS Alhena shipwreck 1.jpg
410128 - The Dutch steamer "SS Alhena" ran aground at Pladdy Rock, near South Rock, South Bay, County Down, Northern Ireland. Cover from Kidderminster, England to Tel Aviv, Palestine with single line magenta cachet "DAMAGED BY SEA-WATER" on front. $185.00
410128 SS Alhena shipwreck 2.jpg
410128 - The Dutch steamer "SS Alhena" ran aground at Pladdy Rock, near South Rock, South Bay, County Down, Northern Ireland. Cover from London, England to Tel Aviv, Palestine with two line black cachet "DAMAGED BY SEA/WATER" & single line black cachet "SALVED FROM THE SEA"–both on front. $200.00
410128 SS Alhena shipwreck 3.jpg
410128 - The Dutch steamer "SS Alhena" ran aground at Pladdy Rock, near South Rock, South Bay, County Down, Northern Ireland. Cover from London, England to Tel Aviv, Palestine with single line boxed magenta cachet "DAMAGED BY SEA WATER" on front. $185.00
410128 SS Alhena shipwreck 4.jpg
470320 - Cover from unlisted ship fire in Naples, Italy. Official Italian telegraph cover, postmarked Naples 20.3.47, with cachet on reverse which translates as: "Object recovered in the cinditions such it is from the fire in Naples Port". - $75.00
610200 - Unidentified ship explosion about 15 or 16 February 1961. Cover to Israel with three line Hebrew cachet reading: "This mail item was damaged when conveyed to Israel when a water pipe exploded in the ship's belly." (See Maritime Disaster Mail, page 320) - $275.00
661110 - Fire onboard the S.S. Kypros near Haifa, Israel. Cover from ? to Tel Aviv, Israel. Return address on reverse is water smudged and difficult to make out. Covers have rarity factor B in Maritime Disaster Mail by Hoggarth & Gwnn. Estimated only 10 to 19 covers known. $400.00
661110 - Fire onboard the S.S. Kypros near Haifa, Israel. Cover from Oradea, Romania to Herzlia, Israel - Three line cachet applied in Israel. $450.00
661110 SS Kypros from Romania.jpg
DIVERTED COVERS
Small cover from Bronx, New York, USA, postmarked 15 Sep. 1950 to ?, Israel. The cover was diverted to Egypt (probably because of the Arab-Israeli war) and has Egyptian censor tape on the left side and top. $50.00
Small cover from Big Rapid, Michigan USA, postmarked 14 Sep. 1950 to Tel Aviv, Israel. The cover was diverted to Egypt (probably because of the Arab-Israeli war) and has Egyptian censor tape on the left side and top. $50.00
Small cover from Stockholm, Sweden, postmarked 12 June1960, to Kibuz Hameuchat, Israel. The cover was diverted to Egypt (probably because of the Arab-Israeli war) and has a Cairo Airport, Egypt cancellation and an Iraeli three line boxed cachet reading “This letter was delayed due to mis-sending to one of the Arab countries.”. Unusual. $100.00
600612 Sweden-Israel diverted.jpg
FLOOD POSTCARD
Unused Postcard showing photo of Columbus, Ohio flood 25 March 1913. $5.00