2013 Berlin helicopter crash
| Company type | Government agency |
|---|---|
| Industry | Law enforcement aviation |
| Headquarters | Berlin , Germany |
Area served | Germany |
| Owner | German Federal Police |
On 21 March 2013, two helicopters operated by the German Federal Police collided during their landing near the Berlin Olympic Stadium amid whiteout conditions. The incident led to one fatality among the crew and caused injuries to nine individuals, including passengers and bystanders.
Background
The collision occurred during a large-scale police drill focused on combating football-related violence at Berlin's Olympic Stadium. Three federal police helicopters were tasked with landing on the Maifeld sports ground to deploy additional personnel at a nearby train station. The formation consisted of two Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma helicopters and one Eurocopter EC155, all managed by the German Federal Police.
Meteorological conditions
At approximately 10:20 a.m., visibility at Tegel Airport, situated three nautical miles from the stadium, was measured at 1800 meters. The sky was partly cloudy, with winds blowing at 5 knots from 310 degrees. The temperature registered −1 °C, while atmospheric pressure stood at 1015 hPa. Investigators observed a snow layer of 17 centimeters surrounding the crash location. Overnight temperatures had dropped further, resulting in a frozen base beneath fresh snow, with total snow depth at the site recorded as 15 centimeters.
Accident
According to the investigation report, the first aircraft, an EC 155 carrying a pilot, an engineer, seven police officers, and a journalist, landed without incident around 10:28 CET but created a significant snow cloud upon touchdown. Following this, a Super Puma hovered briefly for about half a minute, generating additional snow that obscured visibility for the first helicopter. The third helicopter, also a Super Puma with a pilot, engineer, and thirteen officers on board, approached through dense snow clouds and lost visual contact with the ground marshalling officer during its descent. Upon landing, this helicopter rolled over, causing its main and tail rotors to collide with those of the EC155. The pilot of the EC155 sustained fatal injuries from debris produced by the rotor blades. Communication among the three helicopters during landing was minimal, limited to a landing confirmation from the first helicopter and brief positional updates between the second and third aircraft.
Helicopter number one (EC 155) was equipped with both cockpit voice and flight data recorders. In contrast, the crashed Super Puma carried only a cockpit voice recorder because flight data recorders were not mandatory for its certification in 1989. Recordings revealed no indications of technical malfunctions during the landing sequence.
Reactions
In response to the accident, Berlin’s state parliament voiced criticism regarding the police exercise. Representatives from Alliance '90/The Greens and The Left questioned the decision to operate helicopters under adverse weather conditions and described the training scenario as "unrealistic" and "excessive." Conversely, members of the Federal Police and politicians affiliated with the SPD and CDU defended such exercises as essential given that real operations often take place in challenging weather. The Greens and The Left intended to raise this matter within the interior committee of the state parliament.
Federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich along with Berlin’s interior senator Frank Henkel visited the crash location on 21 March to offer condolences to those affected. Chancellor Angela Merkel conveyed her sympathies via her spokesperson Steffen Seibert.
Wolfgang Bosbach, chair of the interior commission in the parliament of Germany, announced that this helicopter accident would be part of forthcoming discussions concerning reforms within federal police organizations.
Investigation
The accident investigation was conducted by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation alongside federal prosecutors, with a temporary homicide task force established at the Berlin State Office of Criminal Investigation. On 22 March, the debris was moved to a police-controlled site in . A post-mortem examination confirmed that the pilot’s death was directly caused by the crash, which led to the disbanding of the special commission.
In May 2013, the Federal Bureau released an interim report presenting established facts but did not assign a definitive cause. By September 2013, the cause of the accident remained unresolved.
Final report and criticism
The conclusive investigation report, issued in September 2014, verified that all pilots possessed substantial experience, including operations involving landings on snow and in difficult terrain. The pilot of helicopter No. 2 was noted for his expertise in mountain search-and-rescue missions and familiarity with landing on unprepared snowy surfaces.
The report highlighted multiple contributing elements to the deadly crash: the federal police aviation unit lacked tailored procedures for snow landings, aircraft maintained unsafe proximity during touchdown, and communication between crew members was insufficient. Furthermore, it pointed out that although federal police aviation is Germany’s largest non-military helicopter operator, it was exempt from civilian aviation regulatory frameworks. Specifically, EU directive No. 216/2008 excludes police aviation from such regulatory oversight. The report also noted that safety recommendations issued in 2006 had not been legally mandated.
The president of the German federal police disputed these conclusions, referencing internal investigations which indicated adequate spacing between helicopters and communication levels consistent with operational plans. Some police pilots informally criticized the lead investigator—a military aviator—for applying inappropriate standards; however, a request to remove him from the case was rejected.
Aftermath
Following the incident, the federal police introduced specialized training programs and updated protocols for helicopter operations on snowy terrain. By February 2017, NATO launched a multinational trial initiative focused on advanced technologies for helicopter flights under low-visibility conditions, motivated by lessons learned from the 2013 Olympiastadion accident.