ČSA Flight 548
ČSA Czechoslovak Airlines Ilyushin Il-12B · Engine failure shortly after take-off
From Zurich, Switzerland to Prague, Czechoslovakia
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
- 23 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 23
- 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
Ilyushin Il-12B
- Aircraft type
- Ilyushin IL-12
- 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
- OK-DBP
- Operator
- ČSA Czechoslovak Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- 23
- Route
- From Zurich, SwitzerlandTo Prague, Czechoslovakia
Approximate · Estimated position: Eglisau, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
On 24 November 1956 the ČSA Czechoslovak Airlines Ilyushin Il-12B "OK-DBP" was an international scheduled passenger flight from Zurich to Prague. Shortly after take off from Zurich Airport the airplane crashed 12 km north of the airport in a field near Eglisau and Wasterkingen, Switzerland. All 23 people on board were killed.
On the same day another international scheduled passenger flight crashed, the 1956 Paris DC-6 crash.
The crash is listed as one of the main flight accidents in Switzerland.
Flight and crash
The affected airplane of the crash was an Ilyushin Il-12 with tail number "OK-DBP". It was operated by ČSA Czechoslovak Airlines. The airplane was seven years old with its first flight in 1949. Earlier in the day on 24 November 1956, the airplane had already done a return flight from Prague to Zurich. During this return flight it was reported that the airplane had already had engine problems.
In the evening on 24 November 1956 the airplane departed again from Zurich Airport for an international passenger flight from Zurich to Prague. Shortly after take-off the airplane experienced an engine failure. While attempting to return to the airport, the airplane went out of control and crashed nose first at 18:20 local time 12 km north of the airport in a field near Wasterkingen, Switzerland close to the German border. The aircraft exploded upon impact, killing all 23 people on board and forming a crater 10 metres wide and 3 meters deep.
Soon after the crash, Czechoslovak aviation experts started an investigation.
Text from the Wikipedia article “ČSA Flight 548” (revision 1372370457, 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: ČSA Flight 548
- Article
- ČSA Flight 548
- Revision
- 1372370457 · 2026-08-31 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q120883212
- 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 "ČSA Flight 548" (page 74311909, revision 1372370457)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata 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
- flight number in the article title
- 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.