Jean Mermoz

moz went on to become an airmail pilot, with Latcore's

company, and almost failed his entry exam by performing dangerous stunts to impress the director. (The director, Didier Daurat had this famous quote: We don't need
acrobats here, we need bus drivers.) He then did a normal, awless ight and was hired. It was there that Mermoz met Antoine de Saint-Exupry. At the Compagnie
Gnrale Aropostale, Mermoz travelled to Morocco,
Senegal and other African areas.
In 1926, one of Mermozs ights ended with an accident,
when his plane crashed in the Sahara. He was then taken
hostage by a group of rebel Tuaregs, but was fortunately
found later alive.

3 The golden years

In 1927, Latcore began building his own brand of
planes to replace the aging World War I aircraft Breguet
14. The Latcore 25, (or Lat 25) and, later, the
Jean Mermoz, 1935
Latcore 26 and Latcore 28 proved to be ecient aircraft when ying from Morocco to Senegal, and Mermoz
Jean Mermoz (9 December 1901, Aubenton, Aisne 7 himself ew the types on those routes on multiple occaDecember 1936) was a French aviator, viewed as a hero sions.
by many in both Argentina and his native France, where
many schools bear his name. In Brazil, he also is recog- But Africa was only the beginning. Latcores project
was to create a direct airline between France and South
nized as a pioneer aviator.
America. By 1929, it had become evident that it would be
economically viable for France to establish a commercial
air route to South America, so Mermoz and others ew
1 Early years
over the Andes. Despite Mermoz nding the ying conditions over the Andes to be tough, he became the projects
Mermoz was a lover of poetry, sculpture and other forms main pilot, determined to reach the Pacic Ocean, and he
of art and literature. A shy and quiet adolescent, he grad- was able, after multiple stops, to reach Santiago, Chile.
uated in 1919 determined that his career would be in avi- During that time, to save time, he decided to y during
ation. In 1920 he met Max Delby, a teacher who helped the night, using light beacons and ares as guides, and
him develop his career, and in April 1921 he ew as a his fellow pilots, for once, were a bit reluctant to see him
pilot for the rst time.
do it, because they knew it would be their turn next. For
some time, as transatlantic ights were not yet possible,
steamboats linked both halves of the Line.

First ights and beginning of

The Line

After ying from Saint-Louis, in Senegal, to Natal,

Brazil, in 1213 May 1930, the line was complete at
last. Unfortunately, the modied Lat 28 Comte-de-laMermoz, whose infancy had been marked by World War Vaulx did not prove reliable enough, and had to ditch at
I news, joined the French Air Force in 1922, being as- sea during the return ight. Mermoz, his two companions
signed, as a pilot of the air forces 11th regiment, to duty and the mail were rescued, but the plane sank during the
in Syria. In 1924, he returned to France, having arguably attempt to tow it.
been one of the most successful pilots in the Syrian op- In 1933, Mermoz was appointed general inspector by
erations. Mermoz relocated to Toulouse. Later on, Mer- Air France. That same year, he arrived in Buenos
1

Aires, Argentina, where he and Saint-Exupry became

important persons during the infancy of what would
later become Aerolneas Argentinas. Mermoz and SaintExupry ew many dangerous ights for the then new air
company. They became regarded as two of the most important men in the history of Argentine commercial aviation. From 1934 to 1936, Mermoz would y private expeditions on Latcore 300 airplanes. He ew 24 expeditions with that type. In 1935, he also ew de Havilland
DH.88 Comet airplanes.

Disappearance at sea

TRIBUTES

months before his demise, he had been very vocal about

the aircrafts poor quality in both design and material,
and was quoted saying Ask me to pilot anything, even
a wheelbarrow, but at one condition: make sure it is
solid.. In fact, another Lat 301, F-AOIK Ville-deBuenos-Aires, had disappeared eight months before his
own, causing the death, among others, of his mechanic
and friend Collenot, and the complicated Hispano-Suiza
12Ner engines thought to be the cause of both crashes
were later decommissioned and replaced with older, more
reliable ones. His message had been heard, too late.

5 Tributes
France
In 1937 Mermoz was honoured by a series of two
French postage stamps bearing his image.
A road in Paris (rue Jean Mermoz), between the
Champs Elyses and rue Saint-Honor has been
named after him.

Latcore 300 Croix-du-Sud

The French city of Toulouse has a road (rue Jean

Mermoz) and a subway station on Line A (Mtro
Mermoz) in his honour.

The 1955 built French ocean liner Jean Mermoz was

On 7 December 1936 he turned back shortly after takenamed after him.
o to report a troublesome engine on his Latcore 300
Croix-du-Sud (Southern Cross). After learning that he
would have to wait for another one to be prepared, he South America
took o again in the same plane after a quick repair, concerned that he would be late in delivering the mail. (His
A French lyce in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is called
last words before boarding the plane were Quick, lets
after him. The Lyce Franco-Argentin Jean Mernot waste time anymore.)
moz, a bilingual school, is located in the intersection of Ramsay and Juramento streets in Belgrano
Four hours later, the radio station received a short mesneighbourhood.
sage, where Mermoz reported that he had to cut the power
on the aft starboard engine. The message was interrupted
A monument to Jean Mermoz exists in the proxabruptly. No further messages were received, and neither
imity to Jorge Newbery Airpark in Buenos Aires,
the Lat 300 nor the crew were ever recovered.
Argentina.[1]
It is assumed that the engine they had tried to repair lost
its propeller midight, and being one of the aft engines,
One of the ATR-72 airliners (CX-JCL) in the
the loose propeller either badly damaged or cut the hull
eet of BQB Lneas Areas is named after Jean
entirely, causing the plane to lose its tail and crash inMermoz.[2]
stantly. Henri Guillaumet, one of Mermozs fellow pilots,
Lyce franco-chilien Alliance Franaise Jeanhad encountered the same problem a few months before,
Mermoz
but as his own engine was on the forward side, airspeed
had been sucient to maintain the propeller in place until
the landing.
Africa

4.1

An unreliable plane

Jean-Mermoz International School (Ivory Coast)

Lyce Franais Jean-Mermoz (Senegal)

As a sidenote, Mermozs fate was all the more tragic
as he himself had grown dissatised with the quality of
the planes he and his companions had to pilot. In the Other

3
His epic ights over the Andes and across the At range: 4800 km
lantic were commemorated in a lm (Mermoz) for
which Arthur Honegger wrote the music score. Two
crew on 12/7/1936:
orchestral suites drawn from the score were recorded
in the 1990s on CD and issued on the DG and Marco
Polo labels.
Jean Mermoz, Pilot

Mermozs planes

Alexandre Pichodou, Copilot

Henri Ezan, Navigator
Edgar Cruveilher, Radio Ocer
Jean Lavidalie, Mechanic

7 Writings

A preserved Latcore 25 in the Museo Nacional de Aeronutica

de Argentina, in the livery of Aeroposta Argentina

The Arc-en-Ciel built by Couzinet

Latcore 25, F-AIEH

Latcore 28 hydro, Comte-de-la-Vaulx F-AJNQ
Cams 56, F-ALCG
Couzinet 70, Arc-en-Ciel, F-AMBV
Latcore 300, Croix-du-Sud, F-AKGF

6.1

Lat 300 Croix du Sud, details

tail number: F-AKGF

dimensions: 26.2m x 44.2m x 6.5m
engines: 4 Hispano Suiza 12NER, water-cooled
V12 engines, 650 hp each
cruise speed: 160 km/h
gross weight: 11.3 tons

Mes vols (Flammarion, 1937) : an unnished collection of memories ( My Flights ) published shortly
after his death, along with short homages from his
best-known friends and admirers.
Dfricheur du ciel (Bernard Marck (ed.), Archipel,
2006) : edition of Mermozs correspondence from
1921 to his death in 1936.

References

8.1

Notes

[1] Ley CABA N: 3479/2010 - Mermoz Jean. Monumento. Avdas. Sarmiento y Costanera Rafael Obligado.
Traslado. Ciudad y Derechos (in Spanish). 2010-08-17.
Retrieved 2014-05-23.
[2] CX-JCL Jean Mermoz - ATR 72-212A Buquebus
[BQB] Aeroparque (video)". DragTimes (in Spanish).
07-12-2013. Retrieved 2014-05-23. Check date values
in: |date= (help)

8.2

Bibliography

Mermoz, Jean. Dfricheur du ciel : correspondance,

1923-1936 assembled and presented by Bernard
Marck. Paris: L'Archipel, 2001.
Mermoz, Jean. Mes vols. preface by Gilbert Louis;
notes by Bernard Marck. Paris: Flammarion, 2001.
Heimermann, Benot & Margot, Olivier.
L'Aropostale preface by Jean-Claude Killy.
Paris: Arthaud, 1994.

External links
Website of the Lycee Franco-Argentin Jean Mermoz in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Ley CABA N: 3479/2010 - Mermoz Jean. Monumento. Avdas. Sarmiento y Costanera Rafael Obligado. Traslado. Ciudad y Derechos (in Spanish).
Ciudad Autnoma de Buenos Aires (CABA). 1708-2010 (publication by CABA). Retrieved 201405-23. Check date values in: |date= (help)
Ocial text of Ley CABA N: 3479/2010 - Jean
Mermoz monument (in Spanish)

EXTERNAL LINKS

10
10.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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