1934 Swissair Tuttlingen accident
Curtiss AT-32C Condor II · In-flight wing separation in severe weather conditions
From Zürich Airport (ZRH) to Berlin Tempelhof Airport, Nazi Germany
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
- 12 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- 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
- Airline
Curtiss AT-32C Condor II
- Aircraft type
- Curtiss AT-32
- 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
- CH-170
- Operator
- Swissair
- Onboard fatalities
- 12
- Route
- From Zürich Airport (ZRH)To Berlin Tempelhof Airport, Nazi Germany
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft structures
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Organizational issues › Development
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
On 27 July 1934, a Swissair Curtiss AT-32C Condor II passenger aircraft crashed near Tuttlingen, Nazi Germany, while flying through a thunderstorm. All 12 people on board were killed. It was the worst air crash in 1934 and Swissair's first aviation accident since its founding in 1931.
Accident
The aircraft departed Zurich for Berlin, with stopovers in Stuttgart and Leipzig. Shortly after crossing the Swiss-German border, the aircraft, cruising at an altitude around 3000 metre, encountered a thunderstorm, and while flying through it, experienced turbulence. The right wing eventually broke off; the plane fell into a forest near Tuttlingen, exploding into flames on impact.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Investigators found that oscillations in the wing had caused a stress fracture, the severity of which was exacerbated by the violent weather conditions in which the aircraft was flying. German investigators, however, determined that one fracture formed in the wing and engine-mount structure due to defective construction and welding techniques in conjunction with the engine vibrations, while a second fracture resulted from the force of the turbulence in the storm.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1934 Swissair Tuttlingen accident” (revision 1345324994, 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: 1934 Swissair Tuttlingen accident
- Revision
- 1345324994 · 2026-03-25 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q16000671
- 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 "1934 Swissair Tuttlingen accident" (page 41964318, revision 1345324994)
- 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 is an airline according to Wikidata
- 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.