Paninternational Flight 112 Explained

Paninternational Flight 112
Date:6 September 1971
Type:Dual engine failure following engine overheating
Occurrence Type:Accident
Site:Bundesautobahn 7 near Hamburg, West Germany
Coordinates:53.7028°N 9.9425°W
Aircraft Type:BAC One-Eleven
Origin:Hamburg Airport, Hamburg, West Germany
Destination:Málaga Airport, Málaga, Spain
Operator:Paninternational
Tail Number:D-ALAR
Occupants:121
Passengers:115
Crew:6
Fatalities:22
Injuries:99
Survivors:99

Paninternational Flight 112 was a BAC One-Eleven operated by German airline Paninternational that crashed in Hamburg on 6 September 1971 while attempting to land on an autobahn following the failure of both engines. The accident killed 22 passengers and crew out of 121 on board.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a BAC One-Eleven registered as D-ALAR and first flew one year before the accident.

Accident

Paninternational Flight 112 took off from Hamburg Airport in Hamburg, West Germany, on a flight to Málaga Airport in Málaga, Spain, with 115 passengers and six crew on board. The captain was Reinhold Hüls, a former military pilot with more than 3,000 hours flying time; co-pilot Elisabeth Friske was the first woman jet pilot in West Germany, at the time with only 7 hours in the BAC One-Eleven. After the takeoff, as the aircraft climbed through 300m (1,000feet), both engines failed and the captain decided to make an emergency landing on a highway  - Bundesautobahn 7 (also part of European route E45)[1]  - about 4.51NaN1 from Hamburg Airport. During the landing, on the south-bound carriageway to avoid heavy traffic out of Hamburg, the aircraft deflected to the left and collided with an overpass and multiple concrete pillars, causing the right wing, cockpit, and T-tail to shear off. The rest of the fuselage broke up and skidded to a halt resting against an oak tree, and subsequently caught fire.[2] The accident killed twenty-one passengers and one crew member.[3]

Cause of the crash

Subsequent investigation showed that one or two of the five tanks for the water-injection engine thrust-augmentation system (used during take-off) had inadvertently been filled with kerosene instead of with demineralised water.[3] [2] Spraying this additional jet fuel into the engines caused them to overheat and fail shortly after take-off.[3] [2] [4] Two maintenance workers for Paninternational were sentenced to prison terms in 1974.[2]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Autobahnatlas.de information for A7. www.autobahnatlas-online.de. de. 29 May 2010.
  2. News: Andreas . Spaeth . Absturz auf der Autobahn . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . 5 September 2021 . de.
  3. Web site: ASN Aircraft accident BAC One-Eleven 515FB D-ALAR Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel Airport (HAM). Ranter. Harro. Aviation Safety Network. 8 February 2023.
  4. News: Absturz auf der A7: Ein Wartungsfehler mit tragischen Folgen . Norddeutscher Rundfunk . de . 6 September 2021 .