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.