February 19 in aviation: the mission of pilots Codos and Costes to reach the Far East.

Aviation has a history of about 100 years, and during this period there were many turning points in the evolution and development of this industry.

On February 19, 1929, sThe mission of pilots Paul Codos and Dieudonné Costes to reach the Far East in the "way of heaven". On this date, the two take off from Le Bourget airfield, located in the Paris region, to travel to Hanoi. This flight will be operated with Maurice Bellonte (who will then serve as radio and mechanical operator).

Shortly after 17:30 p.m., the crew takes off on an Air-Union plane (which became Air France in 1933), with fifty-five kilograms of mail in the hold. This flight, delivered for the purpose of delivering mail, was to pass through Saint-Raphaël, Corsica, Sardinia, Tunis, Tripoli, Cairo, Arabia, Persia and India.

Unfortunately, the "Dragon of d'Annam", the baptismal name of their Breguet biplane, powered by a 580-horsepower engine from Hispano-Switzerland, will not fly too far. Having a power supply problem, the engine failure will force them to land at Bondy, an emergency landing after only 8 kilometers.