Malabar Princess artefacts to be sold

Regular Chamonix visitor and alpinist Daniel Roche is well known in the area for his impressive collection of artefacts from the Malabar Princess, the Air India passenger plane that crashed on Mont Blanc in 1950.Unfortunately he has decided to sell his collection to private collectors. Daniel has long been lobbying for a local museum dedicated to plane crashes in the area. Ideally he would like to see a permanent exhibition in either Chamonix or Saint Gervais, but local authorities have apparently shown little interest.

Daniel has been visiting Chamonix for many years, venturing out onto the local glaciers to search for pieces of fuselage and items from the plane. As well as the Malabar Princess, he has also found many parts from the Kangchenjunga; another aeroplane that crashed into the Glacier des Bossons in 1966.

The two Air India flights are amongst the most well-known aviation accidents, but there have been a number of others over the years and Daniel is by no means the only person to take an interest in collecting pieces of wreckage.

As well as pieces of engine Daniel has found personal items out on the glaciers, including a flight bag belonging to a passenger on the Kangchenhjunga. The bag, found in 2006, was perfectly preserved and still contained make-up, clothes and personal items belonging to the French woman. Business cards in her purse provided her identity and Daniel was able to return the bag to relatives.

Daniel stresses that he does not collect these artefacts for personal gain and that he would far rather donate them to a local museum than sell them to private collectors. In keeping with this, he has promised that all profits made from the sales will be invested in the shantytowns and street schools of Bombay. He may also give some pieces to local sculptor Josée Mermoud, who creates artwork from pieces of fuselage churned out of the glaciers.

Source: Le Dauphiné Libéré