Dewoitine D.332 Émeraude
Illustrative image; it may differ from the actual aircraft.The Dewoitine D.332 was an eight-passenger airliner designed and built by the French aircraft manufacturer Dewoitine. The D.332 was an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane derived from the long distance Dewoitine D.33. The pilot and co-pilot were seated side by side in an enclosed cabin located forward of the wing's leading edge. A radio operator station was located behind the pilots, and behind that was a cabin for eight passengers. The landing gear had trouser-type fairings on the main gear legs. The D.333 was an improved version of this plane, also serving as an airliner. It was further developed into the D.338 design of the late 1930s, which did away with the prominent fixed landing gear of the D.332 and D.333.
Specifications
Figures for the D.332 variant, the most representative of the family
The type first flew in 1933 (93 years ago) · About 1 units built · Production ended in 1933
Figures for the type, not for this particular aircraft: each variant and each configuration changes something. They are shown in both systems used in aviation.
The story of the type
A trimotor for the Indochina route
The D.332 was designed to meet the requirements of the route between France and French Indochina, operated by Air Orient and taken over by Air France in 1933. Émile Dewoitine derived it from his D.33 Trait d'Union record-breaker: an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane with a single-spar wing and a semi-monocoque fuselage, to which he added two outboard engines and a wider fuselage to house a cabin. The two pilots sat side by side in an enclosed cockpit ahead of the wing, followed by the radio operator and a cabin for eight passengers with reclining seats, folding tables and individual ventilation. The undercarriage was fixed, its main legs enclosed in large fairings.
The Émeraude
The only example, registered F-AMMY and named Émeraude ("Emerald"), first flew on 11 July 1933 with test pilot Marcel Doret at the controls, powered by three Hispano-Suiza 9V radials, a licence-built version of the Wright Cyclone. It beat its specification, cruising at 250 km/h on 55 per cent power against the 220 km/h required, and holding level flight at 3,500 m with one engine stopped. It made demonstration flights to several European capitals, and on 7 September 1933 it set several world speed records with payload: in one of them it covered 2,000 km carrying 2,000 kg at an average of 255.25 km/h.
The flight to Saigon
On 21 December 1933 it left for Saigon on a proving flight for the future service, arriving on 28 December. It began the return journey on 5 January 1934, calling at Karachi, Baghdad, Marseille and Lyon, but on 15 January, on the final leg to Paris-Le Bourget, it ran into a violent snowstorm, probably with icing, and struck a hill near Corbigny, in Burgundy. There were no survivors; among those on board were Maurice Noguès, pioneer of the Far East route and an Air France executive, the Governor-General of Indochina, Pierre Pasquier, and the director of civil aviation, Emmanuel Chaumié.
Its legacy
The loss of the prototype did not end the programme: Air France ordered three strengthened ten-seat D.333s, and the line of development culminated in the D.338, with a retractable undercarriage, which flew to Indochina and South America in the second half of the 1930s.
Variants
A one-off: the prototype F-AMMY Émeraude, an eight-passenger trimotor powered by three Hispano-Suiza 9V engines, which first flew on 11 July 1933. In September that year it set several world speed records with payloads of up to 2,000 kg, and it was lost on 15 January 1934 on the way back from its proving flight to Saigon. It had no variants of its own; its successors, the ten-seat D.333 and the D.338 with retractable undercarriage, are treated as separate types.
Overview and history adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · technical figures from the manufacturer’s published specifications and standard aviation references
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This page was last updated on October 11, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 11). Dewoitine D.332 Émeraude. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/d332
MLA
“Dewoitine D.332 Émeraude.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 11 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/model/d332. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Dewoitine D.332 Émeraude.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 11, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/d332.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Dewoitine D.332 Émeraude. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/d332 (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_model_d332,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Dewoitine D.332 Émeraude}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-11},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/d332},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/d332}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/d332 |title=Dewoitine D.332 Émeraude |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-11 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}