Croydon – Amsterdam – Berlin

On November 6, 1929 at 10:10 AM, Croydon – Amsterdam – Berlin experienced a crash involving Junkers G.24, operated by Deutsche Lufthansa, with the event recorded near Godstone Surrey.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a plain, valley crash site.

9 people were known to be on board, 7 fatalities were recorded, 2 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 77.8%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 6, passenger fatalities: 5, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. Few minutes after takeoff from Croydon Airport, bound for Berlin with an intermediate stop in Amsterdam, the crew encountered foggy conditions. The captain decided to return to Croydon and reduced his altitude to maintain a visual contact with the ground. While flying in the vicinity of Godstone, the aircraft hit tree tops and crashed in a wooded area, bursting into flames. Three occupants were seriously injured while six other occupants were killed. Few hours later, one of the survivor (Prince Eugen of Schaumburg-Lippe) died from his injuries. Only the copilot and a passenger survived. The aircraft was named 'Oberschlesien'.

Aircraft reference details include registration D-903, MSN 911, year of manufacture 1925.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 51.2219°, -0.0565°.