A Tragic 1933 Plane Crash in China…and Rumours of Assassination

The terrible crash in February 1933 of T.V. Soong’s personal amphibian plane. The pilot managed to escape but not his recent bride who died in the wreckage. Christy Mathewson Jr. (below), the son of the same named famous New York Giants pitcher) was a pilot in China and managed to survive. He had only got married to Margaret (Peggy) Philips of Philadelphia the previous Christmas Eve in Hangchow (Hangzhou). They had then gone down to Shanghai for their honeymoon. On January 8 they were due to go back to Hangchow where Christy was working for the Chinese government as a flying instructor. Their friends took the train but Christy had a surprise for Peggy – a ride home in TV Soong’s personal plane – a Sikorsky. Soong, then China’s finance minister and a fan of all-things aviation, had loaned Christy his plane as a wedding present. Peggy was apparently excited about the flight, her first alongside her new husband, and laughed with friends at his flying helmet. The plane took off (I’m not quite sure from where?) and 30 seconds later appeared to lose control and pitched into the Whangpoo (Huangpu) River. It skimmed the surface for a moment before hitting a mudflat and overturned, crushing Peggy fatally. Christy suffered two broken arms and a broken leg.

Just why the accident occurred was never fully determined but one theory was that the plane was sabotaged (perhaps by the Japanese) in an attempt to assassinate TV Soong.