SNETA 7 of SNETA's 23 airplanes. By 1 June 1922, enough information was gathered and all experimental flights were suspended. This cleared the way to start up a real Belgian commercial operator, SABENA, which came into being on 23 May 1923 and into which SNETA merged. SNETA The Syndicat national d'Etude des Transports Aériens ("National Union of Study of Aerial Transport"), known by its acronym SNETA, was a Belgian airline which operated from 1919 to 1923 in order to pioneer commercial aviation in Belgium. In 1923 it ceased operations and merged into the newly founded national carrier SABENA. The company was
1935 SABENA Savoia-Marchetti S.73 crash Caterham on 16 January 1936. Evidence was given that the pilot was experienced, having been employed by SABENA since 1927. No distress calls had been made by radio. Verdicts of "accidental death" were returned in all cases. Among the casualties was Sir John Carden, joint owner of aircraft manufacturer Carden-Baynes, and a director of Vickers-Armstrongs. Dutch middleweight boxing champion Florend Willems was scheduled to be on the flight. Instead, he decided to travel by boat. He was due to fight Jack Hyams in Stepney on 11 December. Among the victims was Eugène Samyn, 48-year-old, textile manufacturer, on a business trip