Stuka accident at Neuhammer

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The Stuka accident at Neuhammer was the worst aircraft accident in the German Air Force before the outbreak of World War II .

13 dive bombers Ju 87 of I. / StG 76 under the command of group commander Hauptmann Walter Sigel crashed during a demonstration over the military training area Neuhammer near Neuhammer in Silesia on August 15, 1939; all 26 crew members were killed.

The aim of the exercise was to attack ground targets in the area of ​​the Neuhammer military training area as part of a larger unit by a group of dive bombers. Three squadron formations , each with 9 aircraft, were to perform a dive with bombs one after the other .

The wettererkundungsstaffel announced an hour before the start of the maneuver: "cloud bank in the target area, 2/3 overcast, cloud height 2000 meters, cloud base at 900 meters, including good sight of the surface ." The approach took place at 4000 meters; In the fall, the clouds should be pierced and the target should be targeted before intercepting between 300 and 400 meters. However, the actual cloud base was only around 100 meters at the time of the approach of the group, which made it almost impossible to recognize the real height above the ground and to catch the dive in good time. In addition, when the aircraft pilot concentrated on visual target recognition and detection, it was almost impossible to use the altimeter during a steep dive .

The group commander , Captain Sigel, was the first to take a dive and pierced the closed cloud cover at a height of just 100 meters instead of the supposed 900 meters. He could still pull his machine up along an aisle in the high forest . The commander warned his group over the radio that his two squad pilots immediately following fell into the forest. The complete 2nd season with nine machines as well as another two Ju 87s of the 3rd season could also no longer intercept and crashed in part due to stalling when the dive bombers were pulled up.

The responsible group commander, Captain Sigel, was acquitted during the subsequent legal investigation because he could refer to the incorrect report of the aviation weather service.

literature

  • Heinz-Georg Wilhelm Migeod: The commander. Norderstedt 2009, ISBN 978-3-8391-1091-1 .
  • Cajus Bekker : Attack Altitude 4000 - The German Air Force in World War II. Gerhard Stalling Verlag, 1964.
  • Philipp Prinzing: The Neuhammer Stuka accident. In Classic Aviation No. 8/2018, p. 46.

Coordinates: 51 ° 26 ′ 52.1 ″  N , 15 ° 29 ′ 34.1 ″  E