2010 Air Service Berlin Douglas C-47 crash
D-CXXX, the aircraft involved
Accident
Date19 June 2010 (2010-06-19)
SummaryUnder investigation
SiteNear Berlin Schönefeld Airport
Aircraft
Aircraft typeDouglas C-47 Skytrain
Aircraft nameRosinenbomber
OperatorAir Service Berlin
RegistrationD-CXXX
Flight originBerlin Schönefeld Airport, Berlin, Germany
DestinationBerlin Schönefeld Airport
Occupants28
Passengers25
Crew3
Fatalities0
Injuries7
Survivors28

On 19 June 2010, a vintage Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft crashed shortly after take-off from Berlin Schönefeld Airport for a sightseeing flight over Berlin, which was operated by Air Service Berlin, a provider of event flights. There were no fatalities, but seven of the 28 passengers and crew were injured.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Douglas C-47 Skytrain (registered D-CXXX, serial number 16124/32872), a preserved Raisin bomber.[1] It had been built in 1944 and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 engines.[2] It had participated in the 1948–49 Berlin Airlift. The importance of the airlift for Berlin led to it being acquired for sightseeing flights in 2000.[3] The aircraft was one of the last two aircraft to take off from Berlin Tempelhof Airport (one of the Airlift airports) when it was closed on 30 October 2008.[4]

Accident

At at around 15:00 local time, shortly after take-off from Berlin Schönefeld Airport for a sightseeing flight over the city centre of Berlin,[2] the left engine failed and the aircraft was unable to gain height. The pilots went into a left turn and set down the aircraft into a field near the construction site for the new Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport.[1][5] Three crew members and 25 passengers were on board (among them Stefan Kaufmann, a Bundestag member),[3] all of whom were able to leave the aircraft unassisted.[6][7] Seven people were injured, four of whom were taken to hospital.[8] Schönefeld Airport was closed for fifteen minutes while its emergency services attended the crash scene.[9] A fire that arose from spilled fuel was put out by the airport's firefighters.[10]

Aftermath

The C-47 aircraft suffered substantial damage to its tail and port wing.[6] Nevertheless, due to its historic significance (and because it was the signature airframe of the company), Air Service Berlin stated it intended a complete repair and restoration. Donations towards the cost of the restoration had been received from across the world, including a symbolic 100 USD from Gail Halvorsen, the pilot who is attributed to having started the dropping of sweets for children from aircraft participating in the Berlin Airlift.[4][9] The damaged port wing was later salvaged and sold as limited edition Aviationtags.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Air Service Berlin DC3 at Berlin on Jun 19th 2010, engine failure". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Rosinenbomber: So lief der Crash ab" (in German). BZ News. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  4. 1 2 Hradecky, Simon. "Fare Well, Berlin Tempelhof". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  5. ↑ "Rosinenbomber-Crash: 7 Verletzte" (in German). BZ News. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  6. 1 2 Kaminski-Morrow, David. "German sightseeing DC-3 badly damaged in emergency landing". Flight Global. Archived from the original on 22 June 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  7. ↑ "Rosinenbomber notgelandet" (in German). Berlin Online. Archived from the original on 2010-06-22. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  8. ↑ "Rosinenbomber von Air Service Berlin ging zu Bruch" (in German). Der Mobilitäts Manager. Archived from the original on 2010-06-22. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  9. 1 2 Halvorsen, Gail. "Reader's comments - Rosinen Bomber". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  10. ↑ Hasselmann, Jörst; Meyer, Claus-Dieter (20 June 2010). "Nach zwei Minuten fiel ein Motor aus" (in German). Der Taggespiegel. Archived from the original on 25 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  11. ↑ "Aviationtag". Retrieved 12 June 2021.

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