Thessaloniki – Belgrade

On January 15, 1944 at 01:45 PM, Thessaloniki – Belgrade experienced a crash involving Junkers JU.52, operated by Deutsche Lufthansa, with the event recorded near Belgrade-Nikola Tesla (ex Surcin) Belgrade City District.

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

5 people were known to be on board, 5 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

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

The listed crash cause is human factor. The three engine aircraft christened 'Harry Rother' left Thessaloniki Airport at 1020LT bound for Belgrade. On approach from the east, crew encountered poor weather conditions and low visibility with a cloud base at 200 meters. Aircraft was too low and hit a hill located 16 km east of the Belgrade-Zemun Airport. All five occupants were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration D-ADQW, MSN 640610, year of manufacture 1943.