Iberia accident near Getafe
Douglas C-47A-75-DL (DC-3) · The Iberia accident near Getafe occurred on an international scheduled Iberia flight from Tangier to Madrid on 28 October 1957
From Tangier Ibn Battuta Airport (TNG) to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)
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
- 21 · 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
Douglas C-47A-75-DL (DC-3)
- Aircraft type
- Douglas C-47
- 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
- EC-ACH
- Operator
- Iberia
- Onboard fatalities
- 21
- Route
- From Tangier Ibn Battuta Airport (TNG)To Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Aircraft › Aircraft structures
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Getafe, near the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
The Iberia accident near Getafe occurred on an international scheduled Iberia flight from Tangier to Madrid on 28 October 1957. While approaching the destination airport, a fire broke out on the left engine of the Douglas C-47A-75-DL (DC-3) used on this flight. The engine broke away from the aircraft shortly afterwards, whereupon the Douglas crashed out of control near Getafe. All 21 occupants of the aircraft died in the accident.
Accident sequence
The aircraft was on approach to Madrid when, at 17:59, the pilots contacted air traffic control there and reported that the flight was proceeding routinely and that they had the airport in sight. The pilots requested the landing parameters and asked for the ILS to be switched on in order to test the aircraft systems under the prevailing visual meteorological conditions. Air traffic control at Barajas replied: "Runway 33, wind calm, QNH 30.13, report reaching base leg, ILS out of service." At 18:03 the crew called the Paracuellos area control centre and declared an emergency, as the aircraft's left engine was on fire. The aircraft was given absolute priority for the use of any runway. This was the last radio contact with the aircraft. Shortly afterwards the left engine tore off and 30 seconds later an intense light caused by a fire could be seen on the aircraft from a distance. The Douglas trailed a black trail of smoke behind it. After flying a turn, the aircraft began to lose altitude rapidly and crashed to the ground near Getafe. The aircraft was destroyed by the post-crash fire and all 21 occupants were killed.
Investigation and cause
Cause
The fire was started by a foreign object made of magnesium located in the left engine nacelle behind the firewall. After this had burned away, leaking fuel was said to have begun to ignite. Due to the effect of the heat, the upper spar of the engine mounting was said to have failed shortly afterwards, so that the engine was held only by the two lower mounting points until these finally broke through. The aircraft's landing gear was extended at impact. The fact that the fire had spread so rapidly was attributed either to the extension of the landing gear or to the fire spreading to the oil tank. The temperature was said to have then risen rapidly and possibly put the fire warning system out of action. It was considered possible that the emergency exits had been opened in flight to allow a quick evacuation after touchdown. Burn marks inside the cargo compartment and the cabin pointed to this.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall der Iberia bei Getafe” (revision 269744193, 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: Flugunfall der Iberia bei Getafe
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 269744193 · 2026-08-17 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q123176875
- 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 "Flugunfall der Iberia bei Getafe" (page 12849270, revision 269744193), translated into English with AI assistance
- 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
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A scheduled international Iberia passenger flight: an airline flight. The article: "occurred on an international scheduled Iberia flight from Tangier to Madrid on 28 October 1957"
- 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.