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The 1972 Königs Wusterhausen air disaster occurred on 14 August when an Interflug Ilyushin Il-62 crashed shortly after take-off from Berlin-Schönefeld Airport in Schönefeld, East Germany, on a holiday charter flight to Burgas, Bulgaria.[1] The accident was caused by a fire in the aft cargo bay. All 156 passengers and crew died. To date, it is the deadliest aviation accident in Germany.[2][3]

Königs Wusterhausen air disaster
Interflug Il-62 similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
Date14 August 1972
SummaryOnboard fire
Sitenear Königs Wusterhausen, Bezirk Potsdam, East Germany
Aircraft
Aircraft typeIlyushin Il-62
OperatorInterflug
RegistrationDM-SEA
Flight originBerlin-Schönefeld Airport, Schönefeld, East Germany
DestinationBurgas Airport, Burgas, Bulgaria
Occupants156
Passengers148
Crew8
Fatalities156
Survivors0

Aircraft and crew


The aircraft was a Soviet-built Ilyushin IL-62 aircraft, registered DM-SEA, powered by four Kuznetsov NK-8 engines. It first flew in April 1970, and up until the accident had acquired 3,520 flight-time hours.

The aircrew consisted of 51-year-old captain Heinz Pfaff, 35-year-old first officer Lothar Walther, 32-year-old flight engineer Ingolf Stein, and 38-year-old navigator Achim Flilenius. The flight crew members had 8,100, 6,041, 2,258, and 8,570 hours of experience, respectively.


Crash


The Interflug flight left Berlin-Schönefeld Airport at 16:30 local time. Because of the summer holiday, the number of passengers mainly tourists bound for the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast almost reached the full capacity of the airliner. Takeoff proceeded normally, and the aircraft then headed southeast towards Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic.

At 16:43, thirteen minutes into the flight and 8,900 metres (29,200 ft) above the city of Cottbus, East Germany, the crew reported problems with the elevator; the aircraft was by this time approximately 10 degrees off its designated route. The flight requested a return to Schönefeld but didn't think the situation critical enough for an immediate landing at the nearest airport. At 16:51, the crew carried out a fuel dump to decrease landing weight. Meanwhile, flight attendants reported smoke in the rear section of the cabin. With Berlin-Schönefeld Airport already in sight a few kilometres south, the flight issued a mayday at 16:59:25, indicating problems controlling the aircraft's altitude. At this time, the flight crew was likely unaware that the fire had been consuming portions of the rear of the aircraft. A few seconds later, the tail section, weakened by the fire, separated from the aircraft, causing it to enter an uncontrolled descent. Due to the forces of the dive, the rest of the aircraft broke up in mid-air, the debris landing in the town of Königs Wusterhausen, East Germany.[4]


Cause


Memorial at Wildau Cemetery
Memorial at Wildau Cemetery

The pilot's last messages suggested that a fire in the rear of the aircraft was responsible for the accident. This part of the aircraft was not accessible from the cabin and had no smoke detectors, so the crew was unable to immediately grasp the severity of the situation. The fire was caused by a hot-air tube leak, through which air heated to some 300 °C (570 °F) escaped, damaging the insulation of electrical wires and the aircraft flight control system. After takeoff, the resulting short circuit caused 2,000 °C (3,600 °F) sparks, lighting a fire in Cargo Bay 4. The fire then spread until smoke reached the passenger cabin and the fuselage was weakened. Ultimately, the tail section failed in flight.


Memorial


At the Wildau Cemetery, close to Königs Wusterhausen, a memorial commemorates the victims whose names are written on a black stone marker.


See also



References


  1. "156 Are Killed in Air Crash In a Suburb of East Berlin". The New York Times. Vol. 121, no. 41842. 15 August 1972.
  2. "Stotterndes Geheul" [Stuttering howl]. Der Spiegel (in German). Spiegel-Verlag. 21 August 1972. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013.
  3. Ranter, Harro. "Accident Description". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  4. "East Germany Says Blast Led to Crash Fatal to 156". The New York Times. Vol. 121, no. 41843. 16 August 1972.



На других языках


[de] Flugzeugabsturz der Interflug bei Königs Wusterhausen

Beim Flugzeugabsturz der Interflug bei Königs Wusterhausen stürzte am 14. August 1972 ein Verkehrsflugzeug vom Typ Iljuschin Il-62 der Interflug in der Nähe der Stadt Königs Wusterhausen südlich von Berlin ab. An Bord befanden sich 148 Passagiere und acht Besatzungsmitglieder, von denen niemand den Absturz überlebte. Durch einen Brand im Heck verlor die Maschine das Leitwerk, was zum vollständigen Verlust der Stabilität und der Steuerbarkeit des Flugzeuges führte.
- [en] 1972 Königs Wusterhausen air disaster

[fr] Catastrophe de Königs Wusterhausen

La catastrophe de Königs Wusterhausen est l'accident aérien le plus meurtrier jamais survenu en Allemagne.

[it] Incidente dell'Ilyushin Il-62 di Interflug del 1972

Il disastro aereo di Königs Wusterhausen avvenne il 14 agosto 1972, quando un Ilyushin Il-62 di Interflug precipitò poco dopo il decollo dall'aeroporto di Berlino-Schönefeld, nella Repubblica Democratica Tedesca; l'aereo stava operando un volo charter verso Burgas, in Bulgaria. L'incidente venne causato da un incendio nella stiva di poppa. Morirono tutti i 156 passeggeri e membri dell'equipaggio. Al 2021, è il peggior incidente aereo avvenuto su suolo tedesco.[1][2]

[ru] Катастрофа Ил-62 в Кёнигс-Вустерхаузене

Катастрофа Ил-62 в Кёнигс-Вустерхаузене — авиационная катастрофа, произошедшая 14 августа 1972 года в Бранденбурге около Кёнигс-Вустерхаузена с самолётом Ил-62 авиакомпании Interflug, в результате которой погибли 156 человек. Это крупнейшая авиакатастрофа в Германии[1].



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