Lufthansa flight 502
| Lufthansa flight 502 | |
|---|---|
 A super constellation from Lufthansa |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | probably controlled flight into the ground |
| place | Aeroporto Internacional do Rio de Janeiro / Galeão , Brazil |
| date | January 11, 1959 |
| Fatalities | 36 |
| Survivors | 3 |
| Injured | 3 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation |
| operator | Lufthansa |
| Mark | D-ALAK |
| Departure airport | Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel Airport |
| 1. Stopover | Frankfurt am Main airport |
| 2. Stopover | Paris, France |
| 3. Stopover | Lisbon Portela Airport , Portugal |
| 4. Stopover | Dakar Yoff International Airport , Senegal |
| 5. Stopover | Aeroporto Internacional do Rio de Janeiro / Galeão , Brazil |
| Destination airport | Aeropuerto de Ezeiza , Buenos Aires , Argentina |
| Passengers | 29 |
| crew | 10 |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
Lufthansa Flight 502 was a scheduled flight of Lufthansa from Hamburg (Germany) to Buenos Aires (Argentina) with stops in Frankfurt , Paris , Lisbon , Dakar (Senegal) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation with the aircraft registration D-ALAK crashed on January 11, 1959 while approaching the Aeroporto Internacional do Rio de Janeiro / Galeão shortly before reaching the runway near the beach. All 29 passengers and seven of the ten crew members were killed. It was the first flight accident for Lufthansa, which was founded in 1954.
accident
The crew received clearance from air traffic control to descend to 3000 feet (approx. 900 m) as part of the approach to runway 14 over Guanabara Bay . Rainy weather prevailed in the area during the descent. The engine sank too low and hit the surface of the water with the nose wheel . The crew tried to continue the approach, but could not regain control of the aircraft, so the Constellation crashed near the beach. Of the 39 occupants, only the co-pilot , a flight attendant and the flight attendant Hilde Dehler survived . Among the victims were Maria-Ileana of Romania, daughter of Ileanas of Romania and granddaughter of the Romanian King Ferdinand I , as well as the Uruguayan poet Susana Soca .
plane
The Super Constellation, built in 1955, was delivered to Lufthansa on May 17, 1955. This sold the aircraft in May 1958 to Seaboard World Airlines ; In November of the same year, the plane returned to the ownership of Lufthansa.
Investigation of the aircraft accident
The investigation into the aircraft accident could not determine the exact cause of the accident. A pilot error probably led to the crash, as Flight 502 had sunk below the altitude that was approved for this phase of the approach.
Because the crew had exceeded the permitted maximum flight times according to the Brazilian air traffic regulations - but not according to the then applicable German rules - the fatigue of the cockpit crew was found to be a contributing factor.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aircraft accident data and report in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
- ↑ a b c d e Civil Aviation Authority 1974, p. 1/59
- ↑ a b 36 Killed in Rio Crash - German Airliner Wrecked In: The Times , January 12, 1959, p. 8
- ↑ a b Eastwood 1991, p. 252
literature
- Civil Aviation Authority (Ed.): World Accident Summary . 1974, ISBN 0-903083-44-2 .
- Tony Eastwood, John Roach: Piston Engine Airliner Production List . Ed .: The Aviation Hobby Shop. 1991, ISBN 0-907178-37-5 .