1948 Sabena DC-4 Crash was used by the Belgian airline company Sabena from 17 April 1946 until its destruction in 1948. The aircraft was mostly used in Belgian Congo and carried Regent Prince Charles of Belgium back to Belgium on 13 August 1947 after his official visit to Congo. The Sabena flight departed from Léopoldville-N'Djili Airport, Congo Democratic Republic en route to Libenge Airport, Congo Democratic Republic with 25 passengers and 7 crew members on board. While above the Congo rainforest, 27 km South of Libenge, at an altitude of 700 feet, the aircraft probably penetrated a very turbulent line of clouds or flew
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.