Crash of the Navy 131390 reconnaissance aircraft
| Crash of the Navy 131390 reconnaissance aircraft | |
|---|---|
 Reconnaissance aircraft of the same type |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Structural failure after loss of cargo hold hatch (presumably) |
| place | Amplötz near Forstern , Köppel- u. Wolfmühle near Markt Schwaben |
| date | May 22, 1962 |
| Fatalities | 26 (official) 45 (unofficial) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | WV-2Q / EC-121M |
| operator | US Navy |
| Mark | 131390 |
| Departure airport |
 Frankfurt am Main airport
|
| Destination airport |
Frankfurt am Main airport
|
| Passengers | unknown |
| crew | unknown |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
The crash of the US reconnaissance aircraft Navy 131390 occurred on May 22, 1962 east of Munich . On a reconnaissance flight, the aircraft broke into several parts at an altitude of 5000 m. All inmates were killed and there were no other victims on the ground.
plane
The WV-2Q / EC-121M aircraft with the BuNo (Bureau Number) 131390 belonged to the US Navy squadron VQ-2 (Fleet Airborne Reconnaissance Sqdrn Two, tail unit marking JQ) stationed in Spain at Naval Station Rota and carried the Bow number 15. The model is a military variant of the Super Constellation .
Flight route and cause of the crash
Navy 131390 took off from Frankfurt Airport at 9:15 a.m. ( UTC + 1 ) . From Frankfurt the machine flew via Bamberg to Bayreuth . The purpose of the flight was very likely to eavesdrop on the radio communications of the Soviet armed forces in what was then Czechoslovakia . At 11 o'clock she crossed Nuremberg and flew from there in the direction of Regensburg . At 11:14 a.m. it crossed Straubing, at 11:23 a.m. it swiveled west just before the Austrian border before Braunau am Inn . At 11:31 a.m. she began a climb over Reichertsheim . After a "fateful incident on board", the nature of which has only been speculated to this day, the pilots radioed an emergency call and announced an emergency landing, first in Fürstenfeldbruck , then in Munich-Riem . But already at 11:35 a.m. the tail section broke off over Maitenbeth at a height of 5000 meters, after which the rear fuselage continued to detach to the wings, so that numerous crew members fell from the aircraft. The stern hit almost undamaged east of the hamlet of Amplötz near Forstern . At 11:37 am, the rest of the machine hit the Angerwiese between Köppelmühle and State Road 2080 (between Markt Schwaben and Moos near Forstinning ), where 24 crew members died. After the breakup, stacks of papers and dozen of tapes allegedly "rained" over the region. No one was injured on the ground by the crash.
The first military helicopters with US soldiers arrived just 20 minutes after the impact. They secured the site, recovered the dead and searched the site. American soldiers combed the area for weeks looking for parts of the plane and what had fallen off the plane. Around 100 soldiers are said to have combed a 500-meter-wide swath for several kilometers. In total, more than 5,000 US soldiers and 30 helicopters are said to have been involved in the search.
A total of 26 dead members of the military are recorded; The names of these dead US soldiers were published in the US military newspaper " Stars and Stripes " shortly after the crash . There were obviously civilians aboard the machine; according to media reports, a total of 45 people died. Since the military investigation report into the crash has been kept secret to this day, this number has not been officially confirmed; practically all knowledge about the incident is based on publications in the media.
Plaque
In the area of the municipality of Markt Schwaben, a memorial plaque was set up on May 23, 2012 by the historical association for the district of Ebersberg between Wolfmühle and Koppelmühle on State Road 2080 .
literature
- Oliver Hollenstein: plane crash over Steinhöring. When corpses fell from the sky. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 23, 2012, ( online )
- Peter Sickinger: In the Cold War over Germany: Shrouded in mystery: the misfortune of Markt Schwaben. In: Fliegerrevue X , Issue 54, 13th year, ISSN 2195-1233 , PPV-Medien, Bergkirchen, pp. 54–79, excerpt online
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Website of the VQ-2 losses
- ^ Accident report L-1049 Bu 131390 , Aviation Safety Network (partly in English), accessed on November 26, 2017.
- ↑ The term comes from Peter Sickinger, a resident of Zorneding and a former aviation employee who dealt with the incident for years.
- ↑ The term comes from Peter Sickinger, a resident of Zorneding and a former aviation employee who dealt with the incident for years.