US Air Force Lockheed C-5 Galaxy crash near Ramstein
Usaf Lockheed C-5 Galaxy · The US Air Force Lockheed C-5 Galaxy crash near Ramstein occurred on 29 August 1990
From Ramstein Air Base (RMS) to King Abdulaziz Air Base, Saudi Arabia
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
- 13 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 4
- 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
- 4
- 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
Lockheed C-5 Galaxy
- Aircraft type
- Lockheed C-5
- 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
- 68-0228
- Operator
- Usaf
- Onboard fatalities
- 13
- Route
- From Ramstein Air Base (RMS)To King Abdulaziz Air Base, Saudi Arabia
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Ramstein Air Base, the airport the Wikipedia article names as the site. Where on or near it is not known.
From the Wikipedia article
The US Air Force Lockheed C-5 Galaxy crash near Ramstein occurred on 29 August 1990. It was the second of two accidents with fatalities on board a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy aircraft; the other was Operation Babylift Flight 1 during the Vietnam War.
Sequence of events
The Lockheed C-5A with the military serial 68-0228 belonged to the 349th Military Airlift Wing (Assoc) (MAW). This reserve unit of the US Air Force shared its aircraft with the 60th MAW, which was likewise stationed in California at Travis Air Force Base.
Shortly after takeoff in Ramstein, the pilots lost control of the aircraft. Immediately after lift-off, the speed decreased after an airspeed of 161 knots had been reached. After reaching an altitude of 50 to 100 feet, the aircraft began to descend and the crew members noticed severe shaking (buffeting). The Lockheed crashed into a meadow. The crash site was approx. 10 km from the US Miesau ammunition depot, in which poison gas shells were being temporarily stored at that time in the course of Operation Lindwurm. Thirteen of the seventeen people on board were killed in the crash. The aircraft was loaded with medical supplies and food and was to fly to King Abdulaziz Air Base in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Investigation and cause
Cause
The accident investigation found that the aircraft had crashed after the thrust reverser of engine No. 1 (the outer engine on the left wing) had activated immediately after takeoff without any action by the crew, and loss of control had occurred because the speed was too low.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Absturz einer Lockheed C-5 Galaxy der US Air Force bei Ramstein” (revision 269734474, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Absturz einer Lockheed C-5 Galaxy der US Air Force bei Ramstein
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 269734474 · 2026-08-17 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q108804975
- 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
- de Wikipedia article "Absturz einer Lockheed C-5 Galaxy der US Air Force bei Ramstein" (page 11944453, revision 269734474), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- airport the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata code, OurAirports)
- 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
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.