[2] Sabena Flight 503 was a Douglas DC-6 which departed from Brussels, Belgium at 17:17 GMT en route to Leopoldstad, Congo with stops at Rome-Ciampino, Italy and Kano, Nigeria under the command of pilot Stephan Stolz and co-pilot Patrick McNamara.

At 19:51 GMT the aircraft stated that it had passed over Viterbo one minute previously and requested clearance to descend to 1,700 metres (5,500 ft) which was granted.

At 19:55 co-pilot McNamara contacted Ciampino and stated that the crew would prepare for the landing procedure but that the visibility had worsened; the connection was very weak due to the severe storm and heavy snow and rain fall.

The airplane had crashed somewhere in the mountains of Rieti, Italy 100 km (62 mi) North East of Rome which were known for being difficult to access and also lay in a nature reserve where wolves roamed.

Two days after the disaster, Belgian investigators arrived in Rieti and helped their Italian colleagues to locate the crash site.

The aircraft lay in big pieces in the snow and looked as if it had crashed nose down after hitting a number of trees on the mountain side.

The forward section of the fuselage was shredded and the wings were completely destroyed as well, torn main-wheel covers indicated that the landing gear was extended when the aircraft hit the trees and seconds later the mountain.

On certain points in the Italian mountains the wind can be so strong that the aircraft was blown on a different course and that the radio-navigation tools on the medium wave couldn't offer the usual assistance which also explained the weak radio signals.

In the end, the severe storm together with faulty navigation and a crew which were unfamiliar to the terrain proved to be fatal and send Flight 503 on a direct collision course with the mountain range without anyone realising it.