Lufthansa Flight 005
Encyclopedia
Lufthansa
Flight 005 was a scheduled flight en route from Frankfurt
to Hamburg
with a stopover in Bremen
. The aircraft crashed just beyond the runway in Bremen just before 19:00 on January 28, 1966, in a go-around
after an aborted landing. All occupants — 42 passengers and 4 crew members — died in the accident.
Olympic team, their coach, and an Italian reporter were on board the 53-passenger aircraft. A stone tablet with the names of the dead Italians was placed in their memory in Norderländer Straße near the crash site.
The actress Ada Chekhova, daughter of Olga Chekhova
and mother of Vera Tschechowa
, was also one of the victims.
as their alternate destination due to poor weather conditions.
At about 18:40, after about 30 minutes cruising at Flight Level
140 (14,000 feet or 4270 meters), the flight began its approach from the east to runway 27 at the Bremen Airport. The temperature was 4 degrees Celsius and the ceiling was less than 100 meters (328 feet). The visibility
was only approximately 700 meters (2,297 feet) because of heavy rains. Wind speed
was 9 knots from 140 degrees. The resulting tailwind affecting the aircraft was 6 knots. The minimum weather conditions at the Bremen Airport for that Convair 440 aircraft type permitted a tailwind of no more than 5 knots.
Capitan Heinz Saalfeld began his final descent, but commenced a go-around maneuver at an approximate height of 10 meters (33 feet) above the ground. A few moments later, at 6:51 pm, the 21.5-ton aircraft spun to the left and crashed into a field 400 meters (1,312 feet) beyond the end of the runway. The remaining fuel (approximately 2,500 liters, or 660 gallons) ignited, causing a ground fire that was extinguished by the airport's Fire and Rescue only after 40 minutes.
At the time, the accident was the fourth total loss of a Lufthansa aircraft since the company's reestablishment in 1954: after the crash of a Lockheed Super Constellation on January 11, 1959 during approach at Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, the airline had also lost two Boeing 720-030B during training flights over West Germany in 1961 and 1964.
According to the report, an instrument in the cockpit displayed false information, causing the aircraft to deviate from the prescribed flight path specified by the instrument landing system
, flying above its glide path. As the aircraft broke free of the cloud cover and switched from instrument controlled flight to visual control, the captain presumably estimated the altitude incorrectly due to darkness and poor visibility, causing the aircraft to come in too far, which made the final approach too late. The captain decided to abort because the little remaining runway would not have been sufficient to allow for braking the aircraft. At this point, he maneuvered the Convair into an extreme flight altitude, leading to a stall
and the aircraft striking the ground with its left wing first. The aircraft burned completely except for the tail section and the right wing. When the rescue team arrived they could only sort through the wreckage.
According to an article in the German magazine Der Spiegel
, the aircraft was considerably iced over and the pilot's visibility almost impossible. According to the accident report, it could not be ruled out that during the critical landing phase the pilot suffered from a cardiovascular disorder, precluding him from being able to control the aircraft any longer. He could not control the further progress of the flight on account of the rather poor stall performance of the aircraft type, the extraordinary difficulties to control a stall during instrument flight conditions, and the insufficient height available for transition from a stall to a normal attitude after the aircraft. The copilot could not level off the aircraft because of the very low altitude. The report ended with the sentence, "Other causes could also have contributed to the accident."
A pathological examination of the pilot's remains was not possible. An examination of the copilot's body, however, revealed a blood alcohol content
of 0.24 per mil.
D-ADAD. On November 7, 1961 Lufthansa took control of the aircraft with the new designation D-ACAT. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had logged 13,872 hours of flight time (see also- Kreuzer, H. -Absturz: total flight time- 12,218). The aircraft was not equipped with a flight data recorder.
In memory, the Italian National Olympic Committee and the Italian Swimming Association raised a stone monument not far from the crash site on Norderländer St. in Bremen in the name of the Italians killed.
At the funeral for the Italian swimming team victims, something very unusual happened. As the coffins of the victims were brought out from the church to the square, the crowd started to applaud. It was a spontaneous salute, almost a statement of defiance against death. It was also a tangible tribute to the young athletes. This, incidentally, was the very first time that clapping was recorded at a public, media-covered funeral in Italy. Later, during the dark years of terrorism, on numerous occasions, the crowd would salute the victims of the Red Brigades and other domestic terrorist acts in the very same way. Clapping at funerals slowly became a typical salute for victims of media-covered funerals. In a way it could be said to be similar to a 'standing ovation.'
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...
Flight 005 was a scheduled flight en route from Frankfurt
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport may refer to:Airports of Frankfurt, Germany:*Frankfurt Airport , the largest airport in Germany*Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport, a general aviation airport*Frankfurt-Hahn Airport , a converted U.S...
to Hamburg
Hamburg Airport
Hamburg Airport , also known as Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel Airport , is an international airport serving Hamburg, Germany.It originally covered . Since then, the site has grown more than tenfold to . The main apron covers . The airport is north of the centre of the city of Hamburg in the Fuhlsbüttel...
with a stopover in Bremen
Bremen Airport
Bremen Airport or Flughafen Bremen serves the German city of Bremen and is located south of the city. There were 2.4 million passengers in 2008.-History:The beginnings of the airport date back to the early 20th century...
. The aircraft crashed just beyond the runway in Bremen just before 19:00 on January 28, 1966, in a go-around
Go-around
A go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach.- Origin of the term :The term arises from the traditional use of traffic patterns at airfields. A landing aircraft will first join the circuit pattern and prepare for landing in an orderly fashion...
after an aborted landing. All occupants — 42 passengers and 4 crew members — died in the accident.
General
Among others, seven swimmers from the ItalianItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Olympic team, their coach, and an Italian reporter were on board the 53-passenger aircraft. A stone tablet with the names of the dead Italians was placed in their memory in Norderländer Straße near the crash site.
The actress Ada Chekhova, daughter of Olga Chekhova
Olga Chekhova
Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova, née Knipper — 9 March 1980, Berlin, Germany) was a Russian-German actress. Her film roles include the female lead in Alfred Hitchcock's Mary .- Biography :...
and mother of Vera Tschechowa
Vera Tschechowa
Vera Tschechowa is a German film actress. She has appeared in over 50 films since 1957.She was born in Berlin, Germany.-Selected filmography:* And That on Monday Morning * The Bread of Those Early Years...
, was also one of the victims.
Sequence of events
The flight departed Frankfurt Airport on runway 25R at 5:41 PM after a slight delay of 8 minutes. The aircraft's weight at takeoff was 22,148 kg (24.414 tons), only slightly under the maximum of 22,544 kg (24.851 tons). The Convair CV-440 was fueled with 3200 liters (845 gallons) of aviation gasoline, sufficient for a flight of 5 hours, 13 minutes. This extra reserve was necessary because the crew had chosen Stuttgart AirportStuttgart Airport
Stuttgart Airport is an international airport located approximately south of Stuttgart, Germany....
as their alternate destination due to poor weather conditions.
At about 18:40, after about 30 minutes cruising at Flight Level
Flight level
A Flight Level is a standard nominal altitude of an aircraft, in hundreds of feet. This altitude is calculated from the International standard pressure datum of 1013.25 hPa , the average sea-level pressure, and therefore is not necessarily the same as the aircraft's true altitude either...
140 (14,000 feet or 4270 meters), the flight began its approach from the east to runway 27 at the Bremen Airport. The temperature was 4 degrees Celsius and the ceiling was less than 100 meters (328 feet). The visibility
Visibility
In meteorology, visibility is a measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. It is reported within surface weather observations and METAR code either in meters or statute miles, depending upon the country. Visibility affects all forms of traffic: roads, sailing...
was only approximately 700 meters (2,297 feet) because of heavy rains. Wind speed
Wind speed
Wind speed, or wind velocity, is a fundamental atmospheric rate.Wind speed affects weather forecasting, aircraft and maritime operations, construction projects, growth and metabolism rate of many plant species, and countless other implications....
was 9 knots from 140 degrees. The resulting tailwind affecting the aircraft was 6 knots. The minimum weather conditions at the Bremen Airport for that Convair 440 aircraft type permitted a tailwind of no more than 5 knots.
Capitan Heinz Saalfeld began his final descent, but commenced a go-around maneuver at an approximate height of 10 meters (33 feet) above the ground. A few moments later, at 6:51 pm, the 21.5-ton aircraft spun to the left and crashed into a field 400 meters (1,312 feet) beyond the end of the runway. The remaining fuel (approximately 2,500 liters, or 660 gallons) ignited, causing a ground fire that was extinguished by the airport's Fire and Rescue only after 40 minutes.
At the time, the accident was the fourth total loss of a Lufthansa aircraft since the company's reestablishment in 1954: after the crash of a Lockheed Super Constellation on January 11, 1959 during approach at Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, the airline had also lost two Boeing 720-030B during training flights over West Germany in 1961 and 1964.
Causes
After the accident, an investigative commission was formed. The commission released its final report about a year later, concluding that the crash was caused by a chain of technical and human errors.According to the report, an instrument in the cockpit displayed false information, causing the aircraft to deviate from the prescribed flight path specified by the instrument landing system
Instrument Landing System
An instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...
, flying above its glide path. As the aircraft broke free of the cloud cover and switched from instrument controlled flight to visual control, the captain presumably estimated the altitude incorrectly due to darkness and poor visibility, causing the aircraft to come in too far, which made the final approach too late. The captain decided to abort because the little remaining runway would not have been sufficient to allow for braking the aircraft. At this point, he maneuvered the Convair into an extreme flight altitude, leading to a stall
Stall (flight)
In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded...
and the aircraft striking the ground with its left wing first. The aircraft burned completely except for the tail section and the right wing. When the rescue team arrived they could only sort through the wreckage.
According to an article in the German magazine Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, the aircraft was considerably iced over and the pilot's visibility almost impossible. According to the accident report, it could not be ruled out that during the critical landing phase the pilot suffered from a cardiovascular disorder, precluding him from being able to control the aircraft any longer. He could not control the further progress of the flight on account of the rather poor stall performance of the aircraft type, the extraordinary difficulties to control a stall during instrument flight conditions, and the insufficient height available for transition from a stall to a normal attitude after the aircraft. The copilot could not level off the aircraft because of the very low altitude. The report ended with the sentence, "Other causes could also have contributed to the accident."
A pathological examination of the pilot's remains was not possible. An examination of the copilot's body, however, revealed a blood alcohol content
Blood alcohol content
Blood alcohol content , also called blood alcohol concentration, blood ethanol concentration, or blood alcohol level is most commonly used as a metric of alcohol intoxication for legal or medical purposes....
of 0.24 per mil.
Aircraft
The Convair Metropolitan 440, built in 1958, was operated from July 18, 1958 by the Deutsche Flugdienst Company (renamed Condor Flugdienst November 1, 1961). It carried the registrationAircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
D-ADAD. On November 7, 1961 Lufthansa took control of the aircraft with the new designation D-ACAT. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had logged 13,872 hours of flight time (see also- Kreuzer, H. -Absturz: total flight time- 12,218). The aircraft was not equipped with a flight data recorder.
Memorial
The following Italian swimmers were among the victims:- Luciana Massenzi, 20, national backstroke champion.
- Carmen Longo, 19, national breaststroke champion.
- Amedeo Chimisso, 19, who died in the year of his international debut.
- Paolo CostoliPaolo CostoliPaolo Costoli was an Italian freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics and in the 1932 Summer Olympics.He was born in Florence and died in an aircraft crash in Bremen, Germany....
, coach and national champion in freestyle (200m to 1,500m) in 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1937 and 1938. In 1931, he took bronze over 1,500m at the European Championships behind Oliver Hallassy (HUN), and in 1934 at the same event claimed two silvers, over 400 and 1,500m behind Jean Taris (FRA). Costoli was a pioneer as far as Italian swimming success was concerned. - Bruno Bianchi, who had turned 23 just two days before the tragedy, was national sprint freestyle champion (100 and 200m). In the month of his 17th birthday, he competed at the 1960 home Rome Olympic Games and raced again at the Tokyo Games in 1964. In 1965, he led the Italian team to a first victory at the Six Nations, ahead, for the first time, of France, Sweden and Great Britain.
- Chiaffredo 'Dino' Rora, 21, was a freestyle and backstroke national champion and held the European 100m backstroke record in 1963. He was a medal hope for the Utrecht European Championships before his untimely death.
- Daniela Samuele, 17, was national junior butterfly champion.
- Sergio de Gregorio, 20, national champion over 200, 400 and 1,500m freestyle. He was racing 200m times in 1965 worthy of making the 1968 Olympic final, and was the first Italian under 18mins over 1,500m.
In memory, the Italian National Olympic Committee and the Italian Swimming Association raised a stone monument not far from the crash site on Norderländer St. in Bremen in the name of the Italians killed.
At the funeral for the Italian swimming team victims, something very unusual happened. As the coffins of the victims were brought out from the church to the square, the crowd started to applaud. It was a spontaneous salute, almost a statement of defiance against death. It was also a tangible tribute to the young athletes. This, incidentally, was the very first time that clapping was recorded at a public, media-covered funeral in Italy. Later, during the dark years of terrorism, on numerous occasions, the crowd would salute the victims of the Red Brigades and other domestic terrorist acts in the very same way. Clapping at funerals slowly became a typical salute for victims of media-covered funerals. In a way it could be said to be similar to a 'standing ovation.'