Munich – Northolt

On December 17, 1960 at 02:10 PM, Munich – Northolt experienced a crash involving Convair C-131 Samaritan, operated by United States Air Force - USAF, with the event recorded near Munich Bavaria.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a city crash site.

20 people were known to be on board, 53 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 265.0%.

Crew on board: 7, crew fatalities: 7, passengers on board: 13, passenger fatalities: 13, other fatalities: 33.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft was engaged in a special flight from Munich to RAF Northolt, near London, carrying British students who were flying back home for Christmas and a crew of seven. One minute after takeoff from Munich-Riem Airport, while climbing to an altitude of 1,000 meters, the crew informed ground about the failure of the left engine and obtained the permission to return for an emergency landing. Few seconds later, the copilot informed ground that he was unable to control the loss of altitude. In a limited visibility due to fog (800 meters horizontal and 40 meters vertical), the airplane struck the top of the St Paul church with its left wing and crashed in a huge explosion in the center of a commercial district of Munich. The airplane exploded while hitting a tramway, several cars and people and debris were scattered in the street and several shops as well. All 20 occupants on board the aircraft were killed as well as 33 people on the ground, essentially people sitting in the tramway. Nine other people were seriously injured.

Aircraft reference details include registration 55-0291, MSN 212, year of manufacture 1955.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 48.1769°, 11.5326°.