Remscheid plane crash
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The Remscheid plane crash occurred on 8 December 1988, when a US jet fighter, type A-10 Thunderbolt II crashed onto a residential area in the city of Remscheid, Germany. The aircraft hit a house and smashed onto nearby company grounds. Besides the pilot five people were killed. 50 people were seriously injured.
According to press reports the plane was engaged in a low-altitude flight exercise. It belonged to a unit from Bentwaters air base but at the time of the accident was stationed at the Nörvenich air base.
[edit] Aftermath
When the number of cancer cases in the vicinity of the accident rose disproportionately in the years after, suspicion rose that the jet, contrary to US statements, may have been loaded with ammunition containing uranium. Another unconfirmed suspicion was that the flight control surfaces had trim weights from depleted uranium applied, which would have contaminated the soil around the site of the crash.
A test of soil samples from 250 meters around the place of the crash, conducted in 2002, however revealed no traces of depleted uranium.
Another possible explanation for the increased cancer rate in the surroundings, which gained credibility because no uranium was found, is that the aircraft carried JP-8 fuel. This jet propellant is considered highly toxic and may have spread around the place of the crash.
