1972 Königs Wusterhausen air disaster

Königs Wusterhausen air disaster
Accident summary
Interflug Il-62 similar to the aircraft involved in accident
Date	14 August 1972
Summary	On-board fire
Site	near Königs Wusterhausen, Bezirk Potsdam, East Germany
Passengers	148
Crew	8
Injuries (non-fatal)	0
Fatalities	156
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Ilyushin Il-62
Operator	Interflug
Registration	DM-SEA
Flight origin	Berlin-Schönefeld Airport, Schönefeld, East Germany
Destination	Burgas Airport, Burgas, Bulgaria

The 1972 Königs Wusterhausen air disaster occurred on 14 August when an Interflug airplane crashed shortly after take-off from Berlin-Schönefeld Airport in Schönefeld, East Germany, on a holiday charter flight to Burgas, Bulgaria. All 156 passengers and crew died, making it the second-deadliest aviation accident in the world at that time, as well as the worst one in either East or West Germany to date.^[1]

The crash

The Ilyushin Il-62, serial number 00702, was the first aircraft of this type operated by Interflug. It became operational in April 1970 and by August 1972 it had a history of 3,520 total airframe hours. Prior to 14 August 1972, there had never been a fatal commercial aviation incident involving an Il-62.^[2]

On 14 August 1972, the Interflug flight left Berlin-Schönefeld Airport at 16:30 local time. It being summer holiday, the number of passengers – mainly tourists intending to spend their holiday on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast – almost reached the full capacity of the plane. The pilot was 51-year-old former Luftwaffe and NVA Air Force veteran Colonel Heinz Pfaff, his co-pilot was Lothar Walther, 35. Take-off was normal, the aircraft then headed southeast towards Czechoslovakia.

Thirteen minutes into the flight, at 16:43, 8,900 metres (29,200 ft) above the city of Cottbus, East Germany, the pilot reported problems with the elevator and the aircraft had left its designated route by some 10 degrees. The pilot requested a return to Schönefeld but didn't think that the situation was critical enough for an immediate landing at the nearest airport. At 16:51 the crew carried out a fuel dumping to decrease the landing weight. Meanwhile, the flight attendants reported smoke in the rear section of the cabin. When the pilot had Berlin-Schönefeld Airport already in sight and was just a few kilometers south of it, he issued a mayday at 16:59:25 indicating that he had problems controlling the plane's altitude. A few seconds later the tail section broke off the aircraft which then entered into an uncontrolled descent during which the front part of the plane also broke off before the various parts crashed into a wooded area near Königs Wusterhausen, East Germany.

Cause

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 was not accessible from the cabin and had no smoke detectors, so the crew was not immediately able to realize the severity of the situation. The fire was caused by a leak in a hot-air tube through which air with a temperature of some 300 °C (572 °F) left the tube and damaged the insulation material of electrical wires and airplane control. After take-off a short-circuit caused sparks with a temperature of some 2,000 °C (3,630 °F) and a fire in cargo bay no. 4. This fire then grew until the smoke reached the passenger cabin and the fuselage structure was weakened. Finally the tail section failed in flight.

Memorial

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

References

↑ Der Spiegel: Stotterndes Geheul. Published on 21 August 1972 (in German)
↑ http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19650225-0

External links

Entry at aviation-safety.net
www.interflug.biz
Edgar A. Haine (2000). Disaster in the air. Associated University Presses. ISBN 978-0-8453-4777-5. p. 123

← 1971
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 (1972)
1973 →

Jan 7 Iberia Airlines Flight 602
Jan 26 JAT Yugoslav Flight 367
Feb 22–23 Lufthansa Flight 649
Mar 3 Mohawk Airlines Flight 405
Mar 14 Sterling Airways Flight 296
Mar 19 EgyptAir Flight 763
May 5 Alitalia Flight 112
May 8 Sabena Flight 571
May 18 Aeroflot Flight 1491
May 30 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570
Jun 12 American Airlines Flight 96
Jun 14 Japan Airlines Flight 471
Jun 15 Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z
Jun 18 British European Airways Flight 548
Jun 24 Prinair Flight 191
Jun 29 Lake Winnebago mid-air collision
Jul 2 Pan Am Flight 841
Jul 31 Delta Air Lines Flight 841
Aug 14 Königs Wusterhausen disaster
Aug 16 Burma Airways Thandwe crash
Sep 15 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130
Sep 24 Japan Airlines Flight 472
Sep 24 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident
Oct 13 Aeroflot Flight 217
Oct 13 – Dec 23 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Oct 29 Lufthansa Flight 615
Nov 10 Southern Airways Flight 49
Nov 15 Ansett Airlines Flight 232
Nov 28 Japan Airlines Flight 446
Dec 3 Spantax Flight 275
Dec 8 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708
Dec 8 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631
Dec 8 United Airlines Flight 553
Dec 20 Chicago–O'Hare runway collision
Dec 23 Braathens Flight 239
Dec 29 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401
Dec 31 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash

Coordinates: 52°18′23″N 13°41′19″E / 52.30639°N 13.68861°E / 52.30639; 13.68861

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