Sabena aircraft accident near Kelsterbach

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Sabena aircraft accident near Kelsterbach
Convair-240-color.jpg

A Convair CV-240, here from Western Airlines
Accident summary
Accident type
Loss of control at start due to misfiring
place near Kelsterbach , BR GermanyGermany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany 
date October 14, 1953
Fatalities 44
Survivors 0
Aircraft
Aircraft type United StatesUnited States Convair CV-240-12
operator BelgiumBelgium Sabena
Mark BelgiumBelgium OO-AWQ
Departure airport Salzburg Airport , Austria
AustriaAustria 
Stopover Frankfurt Airport , FR GermanyGermany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany 
Destination airport Brussels Airport , Belgium
BelgiumBelgium 
Passengers 40
crew 4th
Lists of aviation accidents

The Aircraft Accident Sabena in Kelsterbach occurred on an international scheduled flight of Sabena from Salzburg via Frankfurt to Brussels on 14 October 1953. On that day, fell a Convair CV-240-12 (OO AWQ) shortly after taking off from the airport Frankfurt am Main one kilometer northwest of the airport in a forest, with all 44 occupants killed. It is the most serious accident involving a Convair CV-240, and it was also the second worst accident in Germany after KLM flight 592 .

plane

The Sabena aircraft involved in an accident in 1950

The affected machine was a Convair CV-240-12 built in 1949 with the serial number 154 . The machine had completed its maiden flight on January 27, 1949 and was delivered to the Sabena on March 24, 1949 with the aircraft registration OO-AWQ . The twin-engine short-range aircraft was equipped with two radial engines of the type Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp equipped.

Inmates

40 passengers had started the flight section from Frankfurt am Main to Brussels. There was a crew of four on board.

the accident

After starting, the engine output suddenly decreased. At the same time, the pilots inserted the buoyancy aids in accordance with the prescribed procedures . The machine then stalled, and at 2:54 p.m. local time it fell northwest of the former airport near Kelsterbach in the Mönchwald and immediately caught fire. All 44 occupants were killed in the crash.

root cause

The cause could never be fully clarified; it was suspected that there was a loss of performance due to considerable lead deposits on the spark plugs, which had been favored by maintenance intervals that were too long. During start-up, when the ignition cables warmed up, secondary electrical circuits had formed through the metal deposits, which led to a short circuit on the cables and a significant loss of power. No clues could be found for other contributing factors. According to the investigators, there was nothing to indicate that the lead deposition process on the spark plugs had suddenly taken place, rather it had progressed gradually. It was not possible to determine from the available data whether the periods specified by the engine manufacturers for the overhaul of the ignition system had been observed.

The decision of the master to continue the take-off under the given conditions was seen as a factor that contributed to the accident, and the buoyancy aids were also retracted at too low a speed and too low a height.

swell