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1960 Danish football air crash

16 Jul 1960 · Øresund

Zonens Redningskorps de Havilland Dragon Rapide · Loss of control in severe weather

From Copenhagen Kastrup Airport (CPH) to Herning Airfield (EKHG)

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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
8 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
Survivors
1
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
1
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
Charter & commuter

de Havilland Dragon Rapide

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
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
8
Route
From Copenhagen Kastrup Airport (CPH)To Herning Airfield (EKHG)

Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.

From the Wikipedia article

On 16 July 1960, after taking off from Copenhagen Airport at 15.38 local time, a de Havilland Dragon Rapide plane, (registration OY-DZY) chartered to the Danish Football Association, crashed into the Øresund about 50 m from shore after the pilot lost control of the aircraft in severe weather. All eight passengers died; the pilot survived but required a leg to be amputated.

Accident

Witnesses reported that shortly after taking off, one the plane's engines failed as the aircraft was only 300 ft from the surface. The plane then went into a spin and crashed into the water about 150 ft beyond the end of the runway. In the immediate aftermath, all sporting events throughout Denmark were cancelled. A scheduled exhibition football match by Manchester United in August was cancelled out of respect for the players' families.

Text from the Wikipedia article “1960 Danish football air crash” (revision 1348423984, 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: 1960 Danish football air crash
Article
1960 Danish football air crash
Revision
1348423984 · 2026-04-12 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q4569938
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 "1960 Danish football air crash" (page 36599644, revision 1348423984)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
Map position
none
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A small Dragon Rapide chartered to fly the football association's players: a small charter flight. The article: "a de Havilland Dragon Rapide plane, (registration OY-DZY) chartered to the Danish Football Association"
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
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.