Ju 290 crash at Stalingrad
Lufttransort Staffel 290 Junkers Ju 290 · Probably a shift in the centre of gravity due to the movement of passengers
From Pitomnik, Stalingrad to an unrecorded destination
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
- 45 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 36
- 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
- Military
Junkers Ju 290
- Aircraft type
- Junkers JU-290
- 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
- BD+TX
- Operator
- Lufttransort Staffel 290
- Onboard fatalities
- 45
- Route
- From Pitomnik, StalingradTo not recorded
Approximate · Estimated position: Pitomnik Airfield, the airport the Wikipedia article names as the site. Where on or near it is not known.
From the Wikipedia article
The Ju 290 crash at Stalingrad was an aviation accident that occurred on Wednesday, 13 January 1943 involving a German Junkers Ju 290V1 transport aircraft during the final stage of the Battle of Stalingrad, in which 45 people were killed. It is the largest aviation disaster of the Great Patriotic War.
Crash
On 10 January, when the Red Army began Operation “Koltso” (Ring), the “Junkers” landed for the first time at the “Pitomnik” airfield near Stalingrad, which was still held by German troops. The aircraft brought ammunition and food and took the wounded back, but there were not enough aircraft, so the available ones were filled to the maximum. The Soviet army in turn tried in every way to cut off the supply of German troops by air.
On 13 January Ju 290V1 registration BD+TX once again landed at the “Pitomnik” airfield, and after the ammunition was unloaded, loading of the wounded onto the aircraft began. In total there were 75 passengers and 6 crew members on board when the “Junkers”, having accelerated, took off, but then suddenly fell to the ground and was destroyed. As a result of the crash 40 passengers and 5 crew members were killed, that is, 45 people in total. In terms of scale, this crash ranks first among those that occurred during the Great Patriotic War, and also third in the whole of the Second World War.
Investigation and cause
Cause
According to some sources, the crash occurred because on takeoff the pilots raised the nose too steeply (to climb faster and get away from Soviet anti-aircraft fire), as a result of which the stretchers with the wounded shifted to the tail, which, given the large number of the latter, led to the centre of gravity shifting beyond the aft limit. Having reached supercritical angles of attack and lost lift, the overloaded aircraft crashed to the ground.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the Russian Wikipedia article “Катастрофа Ju 290 в Сталинграде” (revision 150406254, 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
Russian Wikipedia article: Катастрофа Ju 290 в Сталинграде
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 150406254 · 2025-12-02 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q55658160
- 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
- ru Wikipedia article "Катастрофа Ju 290 в Сталинграде" (page 7423227, revision 150406254), 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 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 German transport supplying ammunition to encircled troops and evacuating the wounded at Stalingrad: a wartime military transport flight. The article: "The aircraft brought ammunition and food and took the wounded back"
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Russian Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.