Gheorghe Caranda

Gheorghe Caranda
Born	(1884-04-21)April 21, 1884 Iași, Romania
Died	June 20, 1912(1912-06-20) (aged 28) Bucharest, Romania
Nationality	Romanian
Occupation	Army Officer
Known for	first Romanian plane crash casualty

Obelisk in Bucharest commemorating Caranda's death

Gheorghe Caranda (April 21, 1884 – June 20, 1912) was a Romanian army officer and early aviator. He registered at Cotroceni Piloting School founded by George Valentin Bibescu in 1911, and earned his pilot license in 1912.[1]

On June 20, 1912 he crashed his biplane and died on Cotroceni field in Bucharest, thus becoming the first Romanian airplane accident fatality.[2] The Farman III airplane was among those used at Chitila Piloting School,[2] and reportedly had a longitudinal stability problem, and in addition the engine was under-performing on the day of the accident.

Caranda received the Military Virtue Medal posthumously and his name is listed first on the Romanian Airmen Heroes Memorial[2] in Bucharest, before that of aircraft builder and pilot Aurel Vlaicu.

References

1. Alexandru Gh. Savu (1980). The Army and the Romanian Society. Military Publishing House. p. 274.
2. Balotescu, Nicolae; et al. (1984). Istoria Aviației Române (in Romanian). Bucharest: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică. pp. 74–76.

External links

• Gheorghe Caranda on earlyaviators.com
• Gheorghe Caranda, the first Romanian aviation hero (in Romanian)