Crash of a MiG-21 in Cottbus in 1975

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Crash of a MiG-21 in Cottbus in 1975
770a Mikoyan MiG-21SPS Fishbed East German Air Force (3252035773) .jpg

An NVA aircraft of the same construction
Accident summary
place Cottbus , GDR
date January 14, 1975
Fatalities 1
Survivors 0
Fatalities on the ground 6th
Aircraft
Aircraft type MiG-21 PLC
operator National People's Army Air Force emblem Air forces of the NVA
Mark 849
Departure airport Germany Democratic Republic 1949GDR Cottbus-Nord airfield
Destination airport Germany Democratic Republic 1949GDR Cottbus-Nord airfield
crew 1
Lists of aviation accidents

The crash of a MiG-21 in Cottbus in 1975 is considered the worst accident involving a military aircraft belonging to the GDR's National People's Army . It occurred on January 14, 1975 in the Schmellwitz district of Cottbus . A MiG-21 SPS of the NVA air force crashed into a residential building on a workshop flight departing from the Cottbus-Nord airfield . Six residents and the pilot were killed.

crash

Major Peter Makowicka, a member of the Fighter Wing 1 stationed in Cottbus , took off on January 14, 1975 with a MiG-21 SPS from the Cottbus-Nord airfield after changing the engine for a workshop flight. The flight had been postponed several times due to bad weather. The machine was not carrying any ammunition. During the landing approach, which Makowicka initiated shortly after 10 a.m., he extended the landing gear, and an improperly attached compressor maintenance flap came loose . Before the start, the flap had not fallen off due to the negative pressure in the intake duct. After take-off, the retracted wheel of the main landing gear prevented it from falling. Since there is overpressure in the intake duct during landing due to the throttled engine, the hatch was blown off after the landing gear was extended. The resulting leak in the air intake shaft allowed air to escape, which disrupted the flow to and in the engine to such an extent that it resulted in a flame blowout and thus the engine failure.

Makowicka reported the failure and at least one failed attempt to restart the engine to the flight controller. This asked him to save himself with the ejection seat , which would probably have saved the pilot's life. However, he did not comply with the request and instead tried to pull the now unpowered aircraft over the dense development despite the delta wing's poor gliding ability . Among other things, Makowicka flew over the production halls of the Cottbus textile combine , a kindergarten and a school . At around 10:10 am, the aircraft crashed into a five-story prefabricated building and broke through the second and third floors of the Schmellwitzer Straße 2 entrance. The aircraft got stuck in the concrete structure so that its rear protruded from the building. A total of around 800 liters of kerosene leaked almost suddenly from the destroyed fuel tanks and sparked a fire with temperatures of around 1000 ° C, which spread rapidly.

Rescue and fire fighting

Shortly after the crash, German Red Cross forces arrived . The first aid of the injured had already been taken over by the ambulance of the textile combine, so that the first injured could be transported away quickly. Shortly afterwards, the fire brigade in Cottbus and the NVA fire brigade also arrived at the scene of the accident. The aircraft's fuel caused explosions like flares. The work of the fire brigade was made very difficult by the extremely high temperatures that led to the melting of magnesium and aluminum . Since the fire brigade was initially not aware that the aircraft had not carried any ammunition, they assumed there was a high risk of explosion. For this reason, too, she evacuated the two side entrances. 18 apartment doors had to be broken open. First the fire brigade used extinguishing foam , which effectively fought the kerosene fire. She later switched to water to prevent suffocation or chemical burns to those who were still in the building. A woman could be saved alive from the fire. She had survived in a pool of extinguishing water.

Victim

In addition to the pilot Peter Makowicka, who left a wife behind, five residents of the apartment block died directly at the crash site. They were all employees of the textile combine, to which the apartment block belonged as a single dormitory . A 20-year-old victim came from Wittenberge , two 20- and 21-year-olds from Drochow and a 19-year-old from Wittmannsdorf near Luckau . In addition, a 52-year-old Polish woman who had only moved to the GDR six months earlier died. Another resident who was admitted to the Cottbus hospital with severe smoke gas poisoning later died there. Her identity is not completely clear, but it was probably a 26-year-old Polish woman.

In addition to the fatalities, there were several injured. 16 people were hospitalized. Among them were five seriously injured. Most of them were injured when they jumped out the window in a panic. A woman's arm was severed when she hit the metal railing on a cellar stairs.

consequences

Third floor of Schmellwitzer Straße 2 in April 2018. The repaired hole can still be seen.
General view of the apartment block (2012)

The plane was recovered on the afternoon of the crash. The hole in the facade of the apartment block was closed within two days. This repair can still be seen 40 years after the accident.

The wreck was first brought to the Ludwigsfelde maintenance workshop for examination . There, however, no reason for the failure of the engine could be determined. During a further investigation in Cottbus, the lack of the maintenance hatch during the fire was noticed based on the traces of fire on the wreck. Closer investigations revealed that the aircraft attendant in charge had not fastened the flap correctly. Since he had to prepare the aircraft for takeoff several times for free due to the flight delays, he only used 2 or 3 instead of the 28 quick-release fasteners provided, to make things easier. It could not be determined whether he had forgotten this before take-off or was hoping that nothing would happen . The technician was sentenced to five years in prison by the Berlin Military Court in April 1975 .

The state news agency ADN published only a short report about the crash, which appeared in the Lausitzer Rundschau and on January 16 in Neues Deutschland . Details, such as the identity of the victims and the number of injured, were not published and could only be determined from the files of the Ministry for State Security after the German reunification .

The crash caused severe displeasure in the Cottbus population. She called for the air traffic of jet fighters from the Cottbus airfield to be stopped. Employees of the textile combine threatened to go on strike. Mothers no longer wanted to bring their children to the kindergarten in the flight path . Residents demanded apartments in other parts of the city from the city council. All of this was recorded by staff from the Ministry of State Security. At least one of the complainants was put under pressure by the State Security. Not only did the population express their displeasure, members of the Cottbus district council also called for the aircraft to be relocated.

Probably because of these complaints and feared further accidents over densely built-up areas, the National Defense Council of the GDR decided in 1975 to expand the Holzdorf airfield for the later relocation of Fighter Wing 1 there. According to the agenda item for the meeting on July 3, this project served the purpose of “ensuring security for the city of Cottbus”. The relocation took place in 1982. Instead of the aircraft squadron, the combat helicopter squadron 3 was stationed in Cottbus, which posed less danger to the population.

Honors and commemorations

Two days after the crash, the pilot Makowicka was posthumously awarded the gold medal “For services to the people and the fatherland” . He was buried with military honors in the Cottbus south cemetery. Three days after the crash, a memorial service took place in the textile combine. According to the state security files, a family member should be kept away from this. On the one hand, she had just had a visitor from the Federal Republic , on the other hand, she is said to have been "not well-disposed" to the GDR.

In 2015 a woman from Cottbus suggested naming a street to Makowicka and putting up a memorial plaque. The proposal was supported by the Lord Mayor of Cottbus , Holger Kelch . To date (as of January 2020), however, it has not been accepted.

On January 15, 2015, the MDR broadcast Lebensretter dealt with the crash. Helpers from the time also had their say. The crash is also reported in the first episode of the ZDF documentary The Most Serious Accidents in the GDR from 2016.

Another MiG crash in 1985

Despite the relocation of Jagdfliegergeschwader 1 to Holzdorf, a MiG-21 crashed again in Cottbus on March 16, 1985, a Saturday. It belonged to Jagdfliegergeschwader 7 , which was stationed in Drewitz northeast of Cottbus. The reason for the crash was hydraulic damage. The pilot had saved himself with the help of the ejector seat. The plane crashed into a student dormitory at the Cottbus engineering college , which was barely inhabited at the weekend. In the meantime, 800 students were in the immediate vicinity of what is now the Max-Steenbeck-Gymnasium for the then usual Saturday classes . Overall, one student was seriously injured and one passerby was slightly injured.

literature

  • Hans Henker: The compressor hatch . In: Peter Misch (ed.): The aviation engineering service of the GDR military aviation . Media Script, Berlin / Strausberg / Neubrandenburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-9814822-5-6 , pp. 177-181 .
  • Jan Eik , Klaus Behling: classified information. The greatest secrets of the GDR . Das Neue Berlin , Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-360-01944-8 , pp. 145-147 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simone Wendler : In January 1975 a MiG 21 raced into a residential building in Cottbus. In: Lausitzer Rundschau . February 25, 2014, accessed April 7, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Hans Henker: The compressor hatch. In Peter Misch (ed.): The flight engineer service of the GDR military aviation . 2014, pp. 177-181.
  3. ↑ Mission report of the Cottbus fire brigade from the plane crash on January 14, 1975 ( Memento from January 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ a b Tomas Kittan: MiG crash of 1975: The truth about the death flight from Cottbus. In: BZ March 17, 2014, accessed April 10, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Tragedy in Cottbus: Death in the Sea of ​​Flames. In: Online edition of the Schweriner Volkszeitung . May 10, 2014, accessed April 8, 2018 .
  6. ^ Plane crash in Cottbus claimed 6 lives. In: New Germany. January 16, 1975, accessed on April 10, 2018 (full download subject to charge).
  7. ↑ 47th meeting of the NVR on July 3, 1975. In: Bundesarchiv . Retrieved April 8, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Jan Eik, Klaus Behling: classified. 2008, p. 146.
  9. ↑ Peggy Kompalla: Cottbuserin suggests honoring MiG pilots in the city. In: Lausitzer Rundschau. January 29, 2015, accessed April 7, 2018 .
  10. ↑ From the speech by Mayor Holger Kelch at the 6th city council meeting on January 28, 2015. In: Websites of the city of Cottbus. January 28, 2015, accessed April 7, 2018 .
  11. ^ Lifesaver, episode 42. In: Fernsehserien.de . Retrieved April 10, 2018 .
  12. ^ The worst accidents in the GDR (1) (from 0:49:21) on YouTube , accessed on April 15, 2019.
  13. ↑ Frank Hilbert: Airplane crash - hundreds of Cottbus residents were very lucky. In: Lausitzer Rundschau. December 28, 2013, accessed April 10, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Tomas Kittan: 30 years ago today: How the Stasi hushed up a crash in Cottbus. In: BZ March 16, 2015, accessed April 10, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Mission report of the Cottbus fire brigade from the plane crash on March 16, 1985 ( Memento from October 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 51 ° 46 ′ 28.8 "  N , 14 ° 20 ′ 6.2"  E

This article was added to the list of articles worth reading on August 26, 2018 in this version .