2010 Air Service Berlin Douglas C-47 crash

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 out of the 28 passengers and crew were injured.

2010 Air Service Berlin Douglas C-47 crash

D-CXXX, the aircraft involved
Accident
Date	19 June 2010
Summary	Under investigation
Site	Near Berlin Schönefeld Airport
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas C-47 Skytrain
Aircraft name	Rosinenbomber
Operator	Air Service Berlin
Registration	D-CXXX
Flight origin	Berlin Schönefeld Airport, Berlin, Germany
Destination	Berlin Schönefeld Airport
Occupants	28
Passengers	25
Crew	3
Fatalities	0
Injuries	7
Survivors	28

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Douglas C-47 Skytrain (registered D-CXXX, serial number 16124/32872), a preserved Rosinenbomber (English: 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, and because of the importance of this event for the city of Berlin it was 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

Shortly after take-off at around 15:00 local time 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] There were three crew members and 25 passengers on board (among them Stefan Kaufmann, a Bundestag member),[3] all of which were able to leave the aircraft unassisted.[6][7] Seven people were injured, four of them 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 that 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]

References

1. Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Air Service Berlin DC3 at Berlin on Jun 19th 2010, engine failure". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
2. "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
3. "Rosinenbomber: So lief der Crash ab" (in German). BZ News. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
4. 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. 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. 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.