Luft Hansa Flight 19

On Luft Hansa Flight 19 on 24 August 1929, a Fokker was flown into the forest near Elm (Schlüchtern).

Sequence of events

The Fokker-Grulich F.II named Spree was to fly on route 19 from Frankfurt via Leipzig to Berlin. The take-off planned for 7 o'clock had to be postponed because of poor visibility. At 07:40 the Spree took off bound for Leipzig. The flight route of Flight 19 led via Gießen and Kassel to Leipzig. About 10 minutes after take-off the Spree was sighted again over Frankfurt, now on a direct course towards Leipzig. From 9 o'clock the aircraft was sighted circling over Schlüchtern for about 20 minutes. At 09:30 the Spree collided with some trees and fell into the forest, and three of the occupants were thrown out of the aircraft. The fuselage of the Fokker was crushed by a falling tree. At around 10 o'clock Frankfurt Airport was informed of the crash. In this CFIT (Controlled flight into terrain), three of the five people on board the aircraft died. A female passenger later died in hospital. It was the most serious accident involving a Fokker-Grulich F.II.

Cause of the accident

After examination of the wreckage, no faults could be found. On the basis of the sightings, it was reconstructed that the pilot had decided shortly after take-off to fly directly to Leipzig. Near Schlüchtern the Fokker circled, presumably to wait for better visibility for crossing the Rhön. When the pilot decided to make the crossing, he had presumably misjudged the flight altitude, so that the Fokker collided with the trees. The absence of an altimeter was probably also a contributing cause.