1988 Remscheid A-10 crash
United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II · Crash during low-altitude flight
From Nörvenich Air Base (ETNN) to an unrecorded destination
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 7 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 6
- Occupants
- 1
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
A-10 Thunderbolt II
- Aircraft type
- A 10 THUNDERBOLT
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 81-0957
- Operator
- United States Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 1
- Route
- From Nörvenich Air Base (ETNN)To not recorded
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Psychological
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The 1988 Remscheid A-10 crash occurred on December 8, 1988, when an A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet of the United States Air Forces in Europe crashed into a residential area in the city of Remscheid, West Germany. The aircraft crashed into the upper floor of an apartment complex. In addition to the pilot, six people were killed. Fifty others were injured, many of them seriously.
The plane was engaged in a low-altitude flight exercise. It belonged to a unit from Bentwaters Air Base but at the time of the accident was stationed at Nörvenich Air Base, a so-called Forward Operation Location (FOL).
The flight leader, Captain Marke F. Gibson, was leading his flight followed by his wingman, Captain Michael P. Foster.
The cause of the accident was attributed to spatial disorientation, after both planes encountered difficult and adverse weather conditions for visual flying. Captain Gibson was able to maneuver his aircraft to safety, but Captain Foster's aircraft crashed into the houses on Stockder Strasse.
Investigation and cause
Cause
The cause of the accident was attributed to spatial disorientation, after both planes encountered difficult and adverse weather conditions for visual flying.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1988 Remscheid A-10 crash” (revision 1353363713, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1988 Remscheid A-10 crash
- Article
- 1988 Remscheid A-10 crash
- Revision
- 1353363713 · 2026-05-09 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q1434047
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1988 Remscheid A-10 crash" (page 14324065, revision 1353363713)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities plus ground fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: ground fatalities
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.