SABCA S.XII SABCA S.XII The S.A.B.C.A. S.XII or S.A.B.C.A S.12 was a four-passenger light transport aircraft with three engines and a high wing, built in Belgium early in the 1930s. The SABCA S.XII (or S.12) was a response to a July 1930 Belgian government call and funding for an all-Belgian multi-engine aircraft able to carry a useful load of between . This was prompted by the purchase that summer by the national airline, SABENA, of four Westland Wessex trimotors. Speed, range and cabin minimum dimensions were specified, a first flight before October 1930 was required and two examples were to be built.
Sabena Flight 503 communication was cut off. The aircraft had crashed somewhere in the mountains of Rieti, Italy North-East of Rome and was now missing. Sabena itself got notified about the missing aircraft that same night at 23:15 but would not make an official statement until the morning of the following day. The airplane had crashed somewhere in the mountains of Rieti, Italy North East of Rome which were known for being difficult to access and also lay in a nature reserve where wolves roamed. The Italians immediately started a search and rescue mission to locate the missing aircraft and rescue its occupants.