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Mail recovered from an accident
A
crash cover
is a
philatelic
term for a type of
cover
(including the terms
air accident cover
,
interrupted flight cover
,
wreck cover
), meaning an envelope or package that has been recovered from an
air crash
,
train wreck
,
shipwreck
or other accident. Crash covers are a type of interrupted mail.
Crashes of flights carrying
airmail
were a regular occurrence from the earliest days of mail transport by air. In many cases of
aircraft
crashes, train wreck and shipwrecks, it was possible to recover some or even all of the mail being carried, with perhaps some charring around the edges of some pieces if there had been a fire, or water damage from
flying boat
crashes or shipwrecks. In such cases, the authorities typically apply a
postal marking
(cachet), label, or
mimeograph
that gets affixed to the cover explaining the delay and damage to the recipient, and possibly enclose the letter in an "ambulance cover" or "body bag" if it was badly damaged and then send it to its intended destination.
Aviation-related crash covers are a specialized collecting area of
aerophilately
and are much-prized items of
postal history
, because they are generally rare, but as tangible artifacts of often-tragic accidents they have a story to tell. The 367 covers salvaged from the
Hindenburg
disaster
are especially desirable,
[1]
[2]
with prices ranging from US$10,000 and up; a cover at the Corinphila auction in May 2001 realized 85,000 Swiss francs (US$75,000).
The
American Air Mail Society
has a Crash Cover Committee specializing in the study of crash covers. There is also a Wreck & Crash Mail Society, whose members collect all types of crash and wreck covers.
References and sources
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]
- Notes
- Sources
External links
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