Lufthansa

Airbus A320

Following an uneventful flight from Frankfurt, the crew started the descent to Warsaw-Okecie Airport in poor weather conditions with thunderstorm activity, wind shear, rain falls and CB's. After being cleared to land on runway 11, the wind component changed during the last seconds. The right main gear touched down 770 metres past the runway threshold (aircraft's speed was 170 knots). The left main gear touched down 9 seconds later, 1,525 metres past the runway threshold. On a wet runway, the crew started the braking procedure and activated the thrust reversers and spoilers but the remaining distance was insufficient. At a speed of 72 knots, the aircraft overran, went down an embankment, lost its left engine and came to rest 90 metres further, bursting into flames. A female passenger and the captain were killed while all other occupants were rescued, among them 51 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire.

Boeing 707

Flight 527 was cleared for a No.16 departure by ground control and was instructed to make a right turn after takeoff, heading the Caxias VOR, climbing to and maintaining 2000 feet. The aircraft took off from runway 27 at 21:27. Approach control then asked the crew to increase their speed. The speed increased progressively to 304 knots, exceeding the 250 knots maximum speed inside the terminal control area below 10000 feet. While Flight 527 was flying towards mountainous terrain and increasing its speed (in the north sector of the radar scope), the controller was busy vectoring an excessive amount of traffic in the south sector. The assistant departure controller failed to monitor the traffic. When the controller turned his attention to LH527 again, he was surprised by the position of the aircraft and instructed 'LH, turn right heading 140, just now, over'. The controller repeated his instructions and instructed the crew to increase their rate of climb. At that time the GPWS sounded in the cockpit. The aircraft struck trees on the slope of a mountain in a nose-up, left wing down attitude and continued 800 m while breaking up.

Boeing 747-100

The four engine airplane named 'Hessen' lifted off from runway 24 at a speed of 145 knots. During initial climb, at a height of 100 feet, the airplane stalled and struck the ground 1,120 meters past the runway end. It flew again for about 114 meters then struck an embankment and crashed in flames 340 meters further. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. 55 passengers and 4 crew members were killed while 98 other occupants were injured.

Boeing 707

The approach to New Delhi-Palam Airport was initiated by night and marginal weather conditions with a limited visibility due to haze/fog. The copilot was the pilot-in-command and about 8 km on final, the airplane was too high on the glide with an approach speed in excess of 65 knots. Flaps were configured in a down position and the airplane started to lose height and speed. The captain failed to intervene and to realize that the airplane was too low when it struck approach lights and various equipments about 460 meters short of runway threshold. Out of control, the airplane crashed on the ground, lost its four engines and slid for few hundred meters before coming to rest in flames. Fire brigade and rescuers arrived on the scene 18 minutes later and the aircraft was largely consumed by fire. All 109 occupants were evacuated, among them 40 were injured.

Convair CV-440 Metropolitan

The aircraft was operating a scheduled service of Deutsche Lufthansa on the route Frankfurt - Bremen - Hamburg under flight number LH 005. Scheduled time of departure in Frankfurt: 1625 hours GMT, scheduled time of arrival at Bremen: 1745 hours GMT. Actually, the aircraft took off at 1641 hours GMT. The last phase of the flight can be roughly reconstructed from the tape recordings, the evidence given by the witnesses and the position of the wreckage as follows: 17.41 GMT Descending from flight level 60 and clearance for ILS approach to runway 27 at Bremen. 17.44 GMT Passing of radio beacon Bremen outbound. 17.48 GMT Passing of radio beacon Bremen inbound on final approach. 17.49.37 GMT The aircraft was seen for the first time by witnesses about 1 000 m approximately before the threshold of runway 27 near the middle marker; later it was observed by the control tower with its landing gear extended and the landing lights turned on. 17.50.15 GMT About 1 200 m after the threshold of runway 27, close to the intersec- approximately tion of runways 27/09 and 32/14, the aircraft went round again at an altitude of about 30 ft above ground with a compass course of about 2700. 17.50.40 GMT With a pitch of about 300 to 600 and the left wing forward the aircraft approximately crashed on the ground in the opposite direction to runway 27, about 385 m west of the end of runway 27 and about 380 m south of the runway centre line. The aircraft was totally destroyed and none of the 46 occupants survived.

Boeing 720

The crew departed Frankfurt-Main Airport at 0933LT on a training mission, initially scheduled at an altitude of 13,000 feet. After he completed several maneuvers, the crew was cleared to descend to 3,600 feet when control was lost. The airplane apparently rolled inverted and crashed in a huge explosion in a field located in Ansbach. All three crew members were killed.

Boeing 720

The four engine airplane left runway 25L at Frankfurt-Main Airport at 1222LT on a training flight to Cologne-Bonn Airport with a crew of three on board. Three minutes after liftoff, while passing over Nierstein beacon at an altitude of 6,000 feet, the crew was instructed to turn right heading to Ruedesheim beacon with a minimum altitude of 9,000 feet. Shortly later, the airplane went out of control, entered a dive and crashed in a huge explosion in a field located in Ebersheim, about 23 km west of the airport. The aircraft was completely destroyed upon impact and all three crew members were killed.

Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation

The Super Constellation operated on flight LH502 from Hamburg, Germany to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The crew were cleared to descend from 4,200 m to 3,000 m when 20 min out from Rio de Janeiro. They were to maintain 3,000 m to the KX NDB in preparation for an approach and landing at runway 14. Over KX they were cleared to descend to 900 m. Galeão Approach was contacted and normal position reports were made. The plane descended over Guanabara Bay under rainy conditions and struck the water with the nose wheel. The crew then presumably tried to continue the approach, but the Constellation crashed near Flecheiras Beach, short of the Galeão runway. The airplane was destroyed by fire and seven crew members and all 29 passengers were killed. Only three crew members survived. Crew duty and flight time exceeded the Brazilian limits but did not exceed the German limitations.