Paninternational Flight 112
| Industry | Airline |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Hamburg , West Germany |
| Products | Air transport services |
Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence
Paninternational Flight 112 was a BAC One-Eleven operated by the German carrier Paninternational. On 6 September 1971, it crashed near Hamburg while attempting an emergency landing on a motorway after losing power in both engines. The tragedy resulted in the deaths of 22 individuals among the 121 passengers and crew aboard.
Aircraft
The plane involved was a BAC One-Eleven with the registration D-ALAR, which had its maiden flight approximately one year before the incident.[1]
Accident
Flight 112 departed from Hamburg Airport in West Germany heading to Málaga Airport in Spain, carrying 115 passengers and six crew members.[1] The flight was commanded by Captain Reinhold Hüls, a former military aviator with over 3,000 flight hours; his co-pilot, Elisabeth Friske, was West Germany's first female jet pilot and had accumulated just seven hours flying the BAC One-Eleven at that point.[2] Shortly after takeoff, at an altitude of approximately 300 metres (980 ft), both engines ceased functioning. The captain elected to perform an emergency touchdown on the nearby highway – specifically the southbound lanes of Bundesautobahn 7 (also designated as part of European route E45)[3] – located about 4.5 km (2.8 mi; 2.4 nmi) from Hamburg Airport.[1] During this attempt, the aircraft veered left and struck an overpass along with several concrete pillars. This impact severed the right wing, cockpit section, and T-tail assembly. The remaining fuselage fragmented and slid to a stop against an oak tree before igniting.[1][2] As a result, twenty-one passengers and one crew member lost their lives.[1]
Cause of the crash
The investigation that followed revealed that one or possibly two of the five tanks designated for the water-injection system—which enhances engine thrust during takeoff—had mistakenly been filled with kerosene instead of demineralised water.[1][2] This incorrect fuel mixture sprayed into the engines led to overheating and subsequent engine failure shortly after departure.[1][2]<ref name=NDR>Two Paninternational maintenance personnel were convicted and received prison sentences in 1974.[2]
See also
- Southern Airways Flight 242, a Douglas DC-9 that crashed during an emergency highway landing on April 4, 1977
- Dominicana DC-9 air crash, a 1970 incident involving engine failure caused by water contamination
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident BAC One-Eleven 515FB D-ALAR Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel Airport (HAM)".
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Spaeth, Andreas (5 September 2021). "Absturz auf der Autobahn". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in Deutsch).
- ↑ "Autobahnatlas.de information for A7".
Further reading
- Müller-Tischer, Jan (2013). Notlandung auf der A7: Die Flugzeugkatastrophe von Hasloh (documentary film, 27 mins, 43 secs) (in Deutsch).
- Aircraft Accident Report – Über die Untersuchung des Unfalles BAC 1-11 D-ALAR der Paninternational am 6.9.1971 bei Hasloh – Bundesrepublik Deutschland (in German)
Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1971 Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in Germany