in place until the landing. Sabotage of the "Southern Cross" In 1941, the Investigative Commission of Anti-National Activities of the Parliament of Uruguay, after denunciations filed before the Deputy Tomas Brena and Julio Iturbide, arrives at the surprising conclusion of the last two airmail flights of Air France, and with result the death of Collenot first and Mermoz later, they were the result of sabotage of the Nazi Fifth Column (National German Socialist Workers Party operating in Uruguay). The air mail bags transported the technical and economic proposals for the bidding of the so-called Obra del Río Negro in Uruguay, the international tender carried out in three calls in 1936, for the construction of the Rincón del Bonete hydroelectric plant. The tender only receives Offers or proposals from the Siemens Bauunion and Philipp Holzmann AG consortium in Germany, and SKODA WORKS from Czechoslovakia. This and other tricks, such as false news and bribes, were used by Nazi Germany, to get rid of the other proposals under way, and force the bidding to be declared void. The crew of Latécoère 300 Croix-du-Sud, F-AKGF, on that day were: Jean Mermoz, Pilot Alexandre Pichodou, Copilot Henri Ezan, Navigator Edgar Cruveilher, Radio Officer Jean Lavidalie, Mechanic An unreliable plane Mermoz had grown dissatisfied with the quality of the planes he and his companions had to pilot. In the months before his demise, he had been vocal about the aircraft's poor quality in both design and material, and was quoted saying "Ask me to pilot anything, even a wheelbarrow, but at one condition: make sure it is solid". A similar plane, Laté 301 F-AOIK Ville-de-Buenos-Aires, had disappeared eight months before his own, causing the death, among others, of his mechanic and friend Collenot. The complicated Hispano-Suiza 12Ner engines thought to be the cause of both crashes were later decommissioned and replaced with older, more reliable ones. His message had been heard too late. Tributes France An avenue in Lyon (Avenue Jean Mermoz) and a metro station (Mermoz-Pinel) on Line D are named in his honour. In 1937 Mermoz was honoured by a series of two French postage stamps bearing his image. A road in Paris (rue Jean Mermoz), between the Champs Elysées and rue Saint-Honoré has been named after him. The pilot training school in Rungis is named Institut aéronautique Jean Mermoz. The French city of Toulouse has a road (rue Jean Mermoz) and a