What happened to Captain Alfred Lowenstein?
18.00 July 4, 1928 Croydon Airport, London
On a sunny July evening, a privately owned plane takes off from Croydon Airport for Brussels. There are seven people on board.
An hour later the plane on a deserted Normandy beach. By chance, local French army soldiers are training nearby. The soldiers hurry to investigate. It takes them around six minutes to reach the plane.
Six passengers and crew have already disembarked, including the pilot, Donald Drew. The aircraft appears to be undamaged but the flight list contains seven names. Only six people have landed.
The missing passenger is the plane’s owner. Captain Alfred Loewenstein, the third richest man in the world, has disappeared.
Quick Check: True or false?
- A flight takes off from London in the early evening.
- It is travelling to France.
- There are seven passengers on board
The senior army officer present, Lieutenant Marqailles begins taking statements. These seem confused and contradictory. Baxter, the missing owner’s personal valet says:
Mr Loewenstein went to the lavatory. After ten minutes we called through the door but there was no reply. When we forced the door we found the bathroom empty. And the exterior door was open.
So Loewenstein has fallen from the plane? Donald Drew, the pilot does not immediately confirm this. For nearly half an hour he give evasive answers. This might seem suspicious but there is no access from the cockpit to the bathroom.
A detective, Inspector Bonnot, arrives at the scene. He also finds the eyewitness accounts ‘incomprehensible’. But after brief interviews with the survivors, he allows them to continue their journey to Belgium.
“A most unusual and mysterious case,” Bonnot later tells the press. “Anything is possible.”
Two weeks after the incident some French fishermen find a body on a remote beach near Boulogne. A wrist watch, engraved Captain Loewenstein, 315 Rue de la Science, Brussels, is also recovered. This will be used to confirm his identity.
An autopsy requested by his family reveals a fractured skull and several broken bones. It concludes that Loewenstein was alive when he struck the water.
Quick Check: True or false?
- The valet confirms that Loewenstein was last seen entering the bathroom.
- The pilot seems confused about what happened.
- The detective arrests all the passengers and crew.
- The body showed no signs of injuries.
- The autopsy concludes that Loewenstein is still alive.
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