12 Facts About Jean Mermoz

Jean Mermoz was a French aviator, viewed as a hero by other pilots such as Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and in his native France, where many schools bear his name.

Jean Mermoz went on to become an airmail pilot, with Groupe Latecoere, and almost failed his entry exam by performing dangerous stunts to impress the director.

At the Compagnie Generale Aeropostale, Jean Mermoz travelled to Morocco, Senegal and other African areas.

In 1926, one of Jean Mermoz's flights ended with an accident, when his plane crashed in the Sahara.

Jean Mermoz was then taken hostage by a group of rebel Tuaregs, but was fortunately found later alive.

The Latecoere 25, and, later, the Latecoere 26 and Latecoere 28 proved to be efficient aircraft when flying from Morocco to Senegal, and Jean Mermoz himself flew the types on those routes on multiple occasions.

In 1933, Jean Mermoz was appointed general inspector by Air France.

From 1934 to 1936, Jean Mermoz would fly private expeditions on Latecoere 300 airplanes.

Four hours later, the radio station received a short message, where Jean Mermoz reported that he had to cut the power on the aft starboard engine.

In 1941, the Investigative Commission of Anti-National Activities of the Parliament of Uruguay, after denunciations filed before the Deputy Tomas Brena and Julio Iturbide, claimed that the last two airmail flights of Air France, and with result the death of Collenot first and Jean Mermoz later, had been sabotaged by Nazi Fifth Columnists of the National German Socialist Workers Party operating in Uruguay.

Jean Mermoz had grown dissatisfied with the quality of the planes he and his companions had to pilot.

Jean Mermoz was a major character in Antonio Iturbe's 2017 Spanish language novel A cielo abierto which was translated into English and published in 2021 with the title The Prince of the Skies.