Crash of a Junkers JU.52/3m in Prague: 10 killed

Date & Time: Mar 5, 1946
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
OK-ZDN
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Paris – Strasbourg – Prague
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
11
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
10
Circumstances:
Following an uneventful flight from Paris via Strasbourg, the crew started the descent to Prague but encountered poor weather conditions. Due to low visibility, the first approach was abandoned and a go around was performed. A second attempt to land was abandoned as well, still for the same reason. During the third attempt, the three engine aircraft was too low and hit the ground short of runway threshold. Eight passengers and two crew members were killed while five other occupants were seriously injured.
Probable cause:
It is believed that the crew continued the third approach at an insufficient altitude, probably in order to establish a visual contact with the ground.

Crash of a Junkers JU.52/3mce in Hyvinkää

Date & Time: Oct 31, 1945
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
OH-LAK
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Helsinki – Hyvinkää – Hämeenlinna – Tampere
MSN:
4014
YOM:
1932
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
11
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
On final approach to Hyvinkää Airport, the three engine aircraft hit tree tops and crashed in a wooded area. All 14 occupants were injured and the aircraft was destroyed. At the time of the accident, the visibility was poor due to bad weather conditions and the crew was completed a too low approach.

Crash of a Junkers JU.52/3mge in Saltnessand

Date & Time: May 8, 1945
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
7U+OK
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
MSN:
6069
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The aircraft was parked at Ørland Airport and was stolen that day by three drunk German soldiers who want to fly to Sweden. Enroute, the three engine aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances onto a house located in Saltnessand, about a mile south of Buvika. All three crew members were injured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. The s/n is not confirmed at 7U OK (s/n 6816) already crashed on October 21, 1944.
Sources: http://ktsorens.tihlde.org/flyvrak/buvika.html
Probable cause:
Pilot drunk.

Crash of a Junkers JU.52/3m in Steinreich: 18 killed

Date & Time: Apr 20, 1945
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
D-ANAJ
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Berlin – Prague – Vienna – Munich
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
17
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
18
Circumstances:
The three engine aircraft left Berlin-Tempelhof in the evening on a flight to Munich with intermediate stops in Prague and Vienna. While cruising about 60 km south of Berlin, the aircraft was shot down by the pilot of a Soviet fighter and crashed in flames in a field located in Steinreich. Two passengers were seriously injured while 18 other occupants were killed, among them the German filmmaker Hans Steinhoff. This was the last flight for Lufthansa from Berlin before the end of the WWII.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the pilot of a Soviet fighter.

Crash of a Junkers JU.52/3m in Chardzhou

Date & Time: Mar 15, 1945 at 1715 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L41
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Ashgabat – Chardzhou – Alma Ata
MSN:
5457
YOM:
0
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
3
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
On the leg from Ashgabat to Chardzhou (now Türkmenabat) of a positioning flight from Ashgabat to Alma Ata for overhaul by ARM-405 when the right engine failed near Repetek. The pilot decided to go around on landing at Chardzhou as he was unable to make out the landing T, being blinded by flying against the sun, the aircraft lost height and speed while flying a left turn. The pilot did not cope with the situation so the aircraft collided with an irrigation canal and trees 4 km from the airfield, lost its landing gear, flaps and ailerons and crash landed. Both outer engines broke of. All seven occupants were unhurt.
Probable cause:
Wrong approach configuration on part of the pilot in command and inadequate decisions caused the aircraft to lose height and crash on final.

Crash of a Junkers JU.52/3mg4e in Malá Úpa: 8 killed

Date & Time: Feb 23, 1945
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
4V+DR
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
MSN:
6820
YOM:
1940
Region:
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
Crashed in Malá Úpa, killing all eight crew members.

Crash of a Junkers JU.52/3m in Pápa: 2 killed

Date & Time: Jan 27, 1945
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
G6+AP
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Benešov - Pápa
MSN:
3259
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
On approach to Pápa Airfield, the three engine aircraft was shot down by Flak and crashed in a field. Two crew members were killed while the third occupant was seriously wounded.
Crew:
ObLt Johann Czirz, †
Fw Schramm, †
Uffz Johann Rieser.
Probable cause:
Shot down by Flak.

Crash of a Junkers JU.52/3m in Marienfeld: 3 killed

Date & Time: Jan 23, 1945
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
130943
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The three engine aircraft was shot down by the pilot of a RAF Mosquito and crashed in Marienfeld, north of the Gütersloh Airbase. Three crew members were killed while the fourth occupant was injured.
Crew:
Ofw Wolfgang Scholb, †
Ogf Karlfried Krebs, †
Uffz Alfred Stieger, †
Ofw Konrad Ries.
Source: http://www.airwarhistory.com/marienfeld

Crash of a Junkers JU.52/3m near Stalinabad: 3 killed

Date & Time: Jan 14, 1945
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L46
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Stalinabad – Kulyab
MSN:
6053
YOM:
1938
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
On a cargo flight from Stalinabad to Kulyab when the right wing caught fire some 20 minutes into the flight (probably due to a leak in a fuel pipe). The fuel tanks in the right wing exploded, the aircraft dove into the ground and crashed into rocks in the Rangon Mountain Range located southeast of Stalinabad. All three crew members were killed.
Probable cause:
The Tadjik investigation commission reported that the accident was caused by several errors committed by the crew. The NII GVF inspection disagreed with these results and reported that the crash may have been caused by a technical issue on a fuel line (carburetor and/or collector) linked to the right BMW-132 engine.

Crash of a Junkers JU.52/3m in Prnjavor: 7 killed

Date & Time: Jan 10, 1945
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
D-AUSS
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
MSN:
641382
YOM:
1943
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
4
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The three engine airplane named 'Josef Langheld' crashed in unknown circumstances in Prnjavor, some 45 km east of Banja Luka. All seven occupants were killed.