Episode · 1959 – today · War, maquis and post-war
Flight 42: Collado Bajo, 29 April 1959
On 29 April 1959 an Iberia Douglas DC-3 flying from Barcelona to Madrid crashed on the slope of Collado Bajo, the summit of the Sierra de Valdemeca, amid cloud and snow. All 25 passengers and 3 crew died, including gymnast Joaquín Blume and almost the entire Spanish gymnastics team. Villagers from Huerta del Marquesado and Valdemeca climbed up at night to attempt a rescue. Since 2006, the Marcha Blume has commemorated it every April.
On this page 6 sections
An April afternoon
On 29 April 1959, shortly after four in the afternoon, an Iberia Douglas DC-3 that had left Barcelona for Madrid was flying very low over the Serranía. Over Teruel, the crew had deviated from the flight plan because of the storm. In strong winds, poor visibility and with inaccurate charts, they were trying to escape a ring of mountains and cloud. From Huerta del Marquesado and Valdemeca, people heard it pass through the clouds without seeing it, turn round and come back. Someone in Valdemeca said it seemed to be in trouble.
The aircraft flew over the Sierra de Zafrilla and headed west. Ahead lay the Sierra de Valdemeca, an almost vertical wall of rodeno, the red sandstone of the south-east, where clouds become trapped. When the pilot saw the slope, the aircraft lurched with its engines at full power. It fell a few seconds and some fifty metres short of clearing the summit of Collado Bajo. All 25 passengers and 3 crew died.
The mountain villagers
People from the villages took what they thought they would need and climbed the mountainside for hours, along tracks and paths through snow, guided by a dwindling column of smoke and flames. They arrived at night, in freezing cold, and could do nothing. Afterwards came the authorities, the relatives, the technicians who removed the wreckage and a stone cross near the summit.
Blume
Among the dead was Joaquín Blume, the leading figure in Spanish gymnastics of his time. Born in Barcelona in 1933, Spanish champion without interruption from 1949 and European champion in Paris in 1957, his rings exercise, the «Cristo de Blume» (Blume’s cross), was a familiar image throughout the country. Two political boycotts had kept him from the Melbourne Games and the Moscow World Championships. His wife and almost the entire Spanish gymnastics team died with him; only a teammate who did not travel because of an injury survived.
The walk
Since 2006, Huerta del Marquesado has organised the Marcha Blume on the last Saturday in April or the public holiday nearest the 29th: a walk of 16 km and almost 600 m of elevation gain along the old paths to the cross, where the tribute is held, and then to the summit, at about 1,840 m. It is also a day in the mountains, with talks and a shared meal. In the village, sculptor Luis Zafrilla placed the aircraft in steel entering the pine forest, the largest work in the Paisaje Ilustrado.
Vocabulary
- DC-3
- A twin-engined propeller aircraft, the most common on Spanish airlines in the 1950s. The aircraft on flight 42 bore the registration EC-ABC.
- Foëhn
- The effect of moist air that cools as it rises up a slope and leaves its clouds there. Here, the clouds that become trapped against the almost vertical eastern slope of the Sierra de Valdemeca and suddenly cover it.
- Marcha Blume
- A walk from Huerta del Marquesado to the cross and summit of Collado Bajo, on the last Saturday in April or the public holiday nearest the 29th.
Where it is today
Frequently asked questions
Who was Joaquín Blume?
A gymnast from Barcelona born in 1933, Spanish champion from 1949 until his death and European champion in 1957, known for the rings exercise called «Cristo de Blume» (Blume's cross). Spain did not attend the 1956 Melbourne Games or the 1958 Moscow World Championships because of political boycotts.
Can you climb Collado Bajo?
Yes, along the traditional paths from Huerta del Marquesado: about 16 km and almost 600 m of elevation gain, taking about five hours, the route of the Marcha Blume. This is mountain terrain: in fog, it is better not to go unless you know the way.
Sources and reading
- Ayuntamiento de Huerta del Marquesado: Marcha Blume source consulted · Account of the accident and rescue, and biography of Joaquín Blume; programme for the walk.
- Ayuntamiento de Huerta del Marquesado: Cumbres y laderas source consulted · Geology and climate of the Sierra de Valdemeca and altitude of Collado Bajo.
- Ayuntamiento de Huerta del Marquesado: Museo del Agua Clara, el Paisaje Ilustrado (obra «El avión») source consulted
- Payà Pérez, J. (2015): El último vuelo de Blume. Huerta del Marquesado: Ayuntamiento reference located · A book about the lesser-known history of flight 42; not read.
Open questions
- The causes of the accident are recounted here according to the town council's text (diversion because of the storm, low cloud, inaccurate charts). They have yet to be checked against the official investigation report and the press of 1959.
- Altitude of Collado Bajo: the town council gives 1,838, 1,839 and 1,841 m on different pages.
- List of victims: the town council's text names Blume, his wife and several teammates; the full list has not been checked.