How many times did the Blériot 5190 cross the South…

How many times did the Blériot 5190 cross the South Atlantic?

Short answer

The Santos-Dumont, the first Blériot 5190, made 38 Atlantic crossings in total. Two of these were proving flights across the South Atlantic completed before the end of 1934, with Lucien Bossoutrot at the controls. It entered service in February 1935 and continued in that role until June 1937.

Published: November 5, 2026 · Updated: November 5, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Blériot 5190

A flying boat for South American mail

The Blériot 5190 was a French transatlantic mail aircraft of the 1930s, a large parasol-wing monoplane flying boat. It was built for a French government contract to carry airmail to South America. The first example, named Santos-Dumont, flew on 3 August 1933, and before the end of 1934 had completed two proving flights across the South Atlantic, with Lucien Bossoutrot in command and the future chief of staff of the French Navy, Henri Nomy, as flight engineer.

38 Atlantic crossings

In total it went on to make 38 Atlantic crossings. In February 1935, with Aéropostale's only other transatlantic mail aircraft, the Latécoère 300 la Croix du Sud, out of service for maintenance, the Santos-Dumont entered the line and, from then until April, carried all French transatlantic mail at a rate of one crossing per week, until it was joined again by the Croix du Sud and a new Farman F.220 named Le Centaure. It continued in this role until June 1937.

A cancelled order

The French government had ordered three more 5190s from Blériot. The contract was cancelled without explanation. Shortly afterwards Louis Blériot died of a heart attack, on 1 August 1936.