Airplane collision near Wölfersheim
| Airplane collision near Wölfersheim | |
|---|---|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Airplane collision in the air |
| place | Wolfersheim |
| date | December 8, 2012 |
| Fatalities | 8th |
| Injured | 0 |
| 1. Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Piper PA-32-301 |
| operator | Privately owned |
| Mark | D-EUEU |
| Departure airport | Stadtlohn-Vreden airfield |
| Destination airport | Aschaffenburg airfield |
| Passengers | 3 |
| crew | 2 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| 2. Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Robin DR 400/180 |
| operator | Privately owned |
| Mark | D-EHJP |
| Departure airport | Koblenz-Winningen Airport |
| Destination airport | Reichelsheim airfield |
| Passengers | 2 |
| crew | 1 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
In the aircraft collision near Wölfersheim on December 8, 2012, two small aircraft collided near Wölfersheim , Hesse , and crashed. The accident is one of the most serious civil aviation accidents in recent years.
course
The Piper PA-32 Saratoga was at 15:05 with a family of five from Offenbach am Main with destination airfield Aschaffenburg started. The Robin DR400 Regent was at 15:35 from Koblenz Winningen Airport to reichelsheim airport started. Both flights were operated as flights under visual flight rules (VFR) . From 16:03:28 both aircraft were on a collision course with one another, the Piper was flying in the direction of 160 degrees, the Robin 120 degrees, the distance between the small aircraft at the beginning of the approach was 1.02 NM , both were flying at an altitude of 3500 feet above sea level . The Robin pilot reported the imminent landing to Reichelsheim Airfield by radio at 16:03:40. At around 4:04:07 p.m. - after 39 seconds of flight without a change of direction - the aircraft collided at an altitude of 3,500 feet and hit about 600 meters apart. All inmates - four children between the ages of two and eight years and their two parents - were fatally injured.
Investigations
The investigation report of the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation was published on May 21, 2019. The accident is attributed to the fact that
“ The pilots of both aircraft did not notice the approach of the conflict traffic or did not notice it in time. Contributing to the accident:
* Approach of the two aircraft to each other in the form of a standing bearing
* The pilot of the PA 32 is dazzled by the low sun
* Orographic restrictions on the visibility of the two aircraft "
An impact angle of 30 to 40 degrees during the collision was determined from traces of collision on the aircraft wreckage. Since this also corresponds to the angle of the radar tracks to one another, this indicates that neither of the two pilots initiated an evasive maneuver. The investigations now concentrated on the question of whether and when the pilots could foresee the collision, i.e. whether mutual visibility was guaranteed. Two identical copies were placed on the ground at the Bonn / Hangelar airfield and visual obstacles on the machines were assessed in the line of sight, unfortunately without any clear result. Furthermore, the flight from the point of view of the front machine was simulated on a professional simulator at the TU Darmstadt . Only 76% of the 30 test persons noticed the second machine no later than 5 seconds before the collision, and of these only three recognized the conflicting traffic in time to initiate evasive maneuvers. From this, the investigators deduced that the pilots had no chance and recommend carrying collision warning devices on board small aircraft. Under the impression of the accident, the engine flight department of the Aero-Club-Koblenz eV decided to equip their powered aircraft with FLARM (a collision warning device that is widely used in gliding).
Investigation against the pilot's doctor
The Giessen public prosecutor's office investigated against an aviation doctor on suspicion of negligent homicide , because he declared a pilot to be fit to fly despite an illness . This is remarkable because it was used to investigate a person who contributed neither directly (pilot) nor indirectly (pilot, technical crew) to the accident. The pilot of the Piper suffered from type 1 diabetes mellitus (diabetes) and therefore required insulin . On the plane, he carried a supply of glucose , syringes and a blood glucose meter. People with such illness may not be declared fit to fly. The doctor's apartment was searched because of the initial suspicion of “ issuing incorrect health certificates ” (Section 277 of the Criminal Code ). The investigations into negligent homicide were discontinued, however, as an acute illness of the pilot could not be determined with certainty as the cause of the accident. On the other hand, the investigations against the doctor were continued because of the initial suspicion of deliberately issuing incorrect health certificates, but were handed over to the locally responsible public prosecutor in Lower Saxony.
Cinematic adaptations
The plane crash is the subject of the ARD series “Exklusiv im Erste” in the “Crash in the sky” section. The film by Rütger Haarhaus shows the search for clues by investigators at the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation in Braunschweig . In the film, the investigators are followed for a year, starting with the inspection of the rubble at the scene of the accident. The re-enactment on the simulator with several test persons , visualization of the trajectory based on reconstructed data from the GPS device and radar tracks and other work steps of the investigators are also shown.
Web links
- Investigation report on a collision between two sports aircraft near Wölfersheim-Melbach. (PDF; 2.3 MB) Federal Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, May 21, 2019, accessed on August 6, 2019 .
- BFU Bulletin 12/2014 p. 9 (overview) & p. 30ff (interim report)
- Flight accident data and report of the "Piper" in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
- Flight accident data and report of the "Robin" in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
- Crash report: 66 seconds to the inferno. In: Wetterauer Zeitung . March 16, 2013, accessed December 20, 2014 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ hr-online.de - Hessischer Rundfunk, December 8th, 2012 Page no longer available ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Exclusively in the first: Crash in the sky. Searching for clues after the aircraft accident. The First , May 24, 2014, archived from the original on May 27, 2014 ; accessed on December 20, 2014 (video available until May 24, 2015).
- ^ BFU interim report, in Bulletin 2012 p. 30ff: BFU Bulletin 12/2014
- ↑ a b GI: Aircraft accident of December 8, 2012 in the Wölfersheim-Melbach area. (No longer available online.) Joint press release by the Central Hesse police headquarters and the Giessen public prosecutor's office, December 10, 2013, archived from the original on December 24, 2014 ; Retrieved December 20, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation - Investigation reports - Investigation report on a collision between two sports aircraft near Wölfersheim-Melbach. Retrieved August 6, 2019 .
- ↑ movie "Crash the sky," Rütger Haarhaus, ARD franchise exclusively in the First, premiere May 25, 2014
- ↑ Power-FLARM for powered aircraft. (No longer available online.) Message from the Aero Club Koblenz, July 1, 2013, archived from the original on October 20, 2014 ; Retrieved December 20, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Plane crash: was the Piper pilot allowed to take the wheel? In: Wetterauer Zeitung . March 20, 2013, accessed December 20, 2014 .
