Düsseldorf – Reykjavik – New York

On November 3, 1957 at 07:03 AM, Düsseldorf – Reykjavik – New York experienced a crash involving Douglas C-54 Skymaster, operated by Karl Herfurtner Luftreederei, with the event recorded near Düsseldorf-Lohausen North Rhine-Westphalia.

The flight was categorized as positioning and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

10 people were known to be on board, 7 fatalities were recorded, 3 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 70.0%.

Crew on board: 7, crew fatalities: 6, passengers on board: 3, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 1.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The flight was to be from Dusseldorf, Germany, to New York via Reykjavik. One crew was to pilot the first leg of the trip to Reykjavik and the relief crew was to complete the flight to New York. Of the ten aboard the aircraft, seven were crew and three were passengers. Take-off from Dusseldorf at 0700 hours was normal until the aircraft became airborne. Immediately after becoming airborne and following retraction of the gear No. 1 engine was cut off and its propeller feathered. Then the No. 2 engine was also cut off and its propeller feathered. During this process the flaps were immediately and fully retracted. The aircraft, having attained an altitude of 50 metres, dropped sharply, lost altitude and crashed (0703 hours) into buildings within the city limits killing six of the occupants instantly and seriously injuring the other four. In addition, one person on the ground was killed and two others seriously injured. The wreckage was completely destroyed by fire.

Aircraft reference details include registration D-ALAF, MSN 7459, year of manufacture 1944.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 51.2812°, 6.7662°.