Munich air accident (1960)

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For the 1958 accident that involved Manchester United, see Munich air disaster.

Memorial plaque at the accident site

The accident site in 2007

On December 17 1960, a United States Air Force Convair 340 aircraft, military designation C-131D Samaritan, was on its way from the Munich-Riem airport near Munich, Germany, bound for the Royal Air Force Northolt Airbase in Northolt, England. Shortly after takeoff, the Convair lost the power to one of its two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engines. Unable to maintain altitude, the Convair hit the steeple of St. Paul's Church in downtown Munich, and subsequently crashed into a streetcar that was crowded with people, mainly shoppers, since it was about 2:10 on a Saturday afternoon, the week before Christmas. All 13 passengers and 7 crewmembers on the plane died, 32 people on the ground were killed, and 20 were wounded.

A crash investigation revealed water contamination in the fuel tank booster pump, and the Munich Fire Department reports that an engine bearing crashed through a rooftop of a home, away from the scene of the crash.

Time Magazine reported a week after the crash that all 13 passengers on the Convair were University of Maryland students.

The Convair involved in the crash, registration number 55-291, was the first USAF example of its type to arrive in Europe. It was under command of the 7500th Air Base Group, 3rd Air Force, U.S. Air Forces in Europe while based at Northolt, beginning on May 13 1955.

Only the day before this accident, two commercial airliners collided over New York, killing 140. Coincidentally, the Munich crash occurred on the same day that the visitors' center at the Wright Brothers National Memorial was dedicated, on the 57th anniversary of the first flight in 1903. According to one news account, a "slim audience saddened by Friday's airliner collision over New York and Saturday's crash at Munich" attended the dedication ceremony.[1]