Case file · High strangeness
The Croix-du-Sud vanishes off Dakar
On 7 December 1936, the aviator Jean Mermoz and four crew left Dakar for Brazil in the flying boat Croix-du-Sud. A few hours later they radioed that they were cutting the rear right engine, and nothing more was heard.
1936 CE · 14.00, -20.50 · status: disputed
The account
No wreckage was ever found. Mermoz was a national hero of the Aéropostale airmail line. The plotted point at sea is approximate.
The sceptical view
An engine failure over the open Atlantic explains the loss; the mystery is only where.