Latécoère 521

The Latécoère 521 was a French six-engined, double-deck flying boat. When it was completed it was the largest aircraft built in France and one of the first large passenger aircraft able to fly transatlantic routes. It first flew on 10 January 1935 and set several world records for payload and endurance. Air France put it into passenger service, fitted as a luxurious airliner for up to 72 passengers, and it opened long-distance routes that had not been possible before. After the outbreak of the Second World War the French Navy took the aircraft over, mostly as a long-distance maritime patrol aircraft. None survived the conflict because retreating German forces sabotaged them. It was the basis of the single Latécoère 522 and the three Latécoère 523 navalised aircraft.