1975 MiG-21 crash in Cottbus

The crash of a MiG-21 in Cottbus in 1975 is considered the most serious accident involving a military aircraft of the National People's Army (NVA) of the GDR. It occurred on 14 January 1975 in the Cottbus district of Schmellwitz. A MiG-21 SPS of the NVA Air Forces crashed into a residential building during the landing approach on a maintenance test flight from Cottbus-Nord Airfield. Six female residents and the pilot were killed.

Crash

Major Peter Makowicka, a member of Fighter Wing 1 stationed in Cottbus, had taken off on 14 January 1975 in a MiG-21 SPS from Cottbus-Nord Airfield on a maintenance test flight after an engine change. Because of bad weather the flight had been postponed several times. The aircraft carried no ammunition. During the landing approach, which Makowicka initiated shortly after 10 o'clock, he extended the landing gear, whereupon an improperly secured compressor maintenance panel came loose. Before take-off the panel had not fallen off because of the negative pressure prevailing in the intake duct. After take-off the retracted main landing gear wheel prevented it from falling off. Since during landing there is overpressure in the intake duct because the engine is throttled back, the hatch was blown off after the landing gear was extended. Air could now escape through the resulting leak in the air intake duct, which disturbed the flow to and within the engine so considerably that a flameout occurred and thus an engine failure.

Makowicka reported the failure to the flight controller and at least one unsuccessful attempt to restart the engine. The flight controller ordered him to eject, which would probably have saved the pilot's life. He did not comply with the order, however, and instead tried to pull the now unpowered aircraft, despite the delta-wing aircraft's poor gliding ability, over the dense built-up area. Among other things, Makowicka flew over the production halls of the Cottbus textile combine, a kindergarten and a school. At around 10:10 the aircraft crashed into a five-storey prefabricated concrete building and broke through the second and third floors of the stairwell block at Schmellwitzer Straße 2. The aircraft became stuck in the concrete building in such a way that its tail protruded from the building. A total of about 800 litres of kerosene escaped almost instantly from the destroyed fuel tanks and ignited a fire with temperatures of around 1000 °C, which spread rapidly.