Henri Brégi

Henri Brégi (4 December 1888 – 12 January 1917) was a French pioneer aviator. He was the first person to fly an aeroplane in Argentina.

Henri Brégi (1888-1917), French pioneer aviator, besides a plane Voisin in 1909

Henri Brégi in 1912

Argentinian flights

Brégi was invited by Jorge Newbery to come to Argentina to make the first flight in that country as part of the centenary celebrations of Argentine Independence. On 6 February 1910, Brégi piloted the first aeroplane flight in Argentina. He had sailed on the steamship Parana from France, arriving on 8 Jan 1910. He brought with him two aeroplanes: both Voisin Biplanes, one with an ENV 60 hp engine and the other with a 50 hp air cooled rotary Gnôme (Octavie III).

Wartime service and death

Henri Brégi was mobilized during the First World War. A pilot of the French Army, he was seconded to the Toulon Maritime Aviation Centre. On 12 January 1917, he volunteered to neutralize a German submarine operating off the harbour. A ditching in the bay of Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer during the mission overturned the seaplane that Brégi was piloting; he drowned.