The crash of an Ilyushin Il-62 in August 1972 remains Germany's worst aircraft accident to date. All 156 people onboard died when the Interflug holiday charter flight crashed shortly after take-off from Berlin Schönefeld Airport. This was caused by mechanical issues, with a fire destroying the aircraft in flight.

Interflug and the Ilyushin Il-62

Interflug was the national airline of the German Democratic Republic, based in East Berlin. It was founded in 1958, essentially as a back-up to the Deutsche Lufthansa brand, with challenges from Deutsche Luft Hansa as the main flag carrier. Deutsche Lufthansa was established in 1955 as a new airline for East Germany. Due to poor financials, it was liquidated in 1963. Its aircraft and operations were then transferred over to Interflug.

Interflug was based at Berlin Schönefeld Airport. The airline operated a variety of Soviet-built aircraft, including the Ilyushin Il-18, Ilyushin Il-62, Tupolev Tu-134, and Tupolev Tu-154. The quadjet Ilyushin Il-62 was one of the most numerous in the fleet (second to the Tu-134). Interflug operated 39 of these aircraft throughout its time (according to data from ATDB.aero).

Towards the end of its operations, it took on one Airbus A310 in 1989. The airline was liquidated in 1991 following the reunification of Germany in 1990.

Interflug flight on 14th August 1972

The flight in question was operated by one of the airline's Ilyushin Il-62 aircraft, with registration DM-SEA. This aircraft had been delivered new to the airline just over two years previously, in April 1970.

This was a charter flight taking tourists to the Black Sea resort of Burgas in Bulgaria. There were 148 passengers and eight crew onboard. The flight left Berlin Schönefeld Airport without any reported problems at 16:30. According to the crash report, the first reports of any issues came at 16:43. At this time, the pilots reported difficulties with the aircraft elevator and requested to return to the airport. They started to dump fuel at 16:51 and began an emergency descent at 16:54.

An emergency was declared at 16:59, with the pilots citing the same elevator problems as well as a fire in the rear of the aircraft. Very soon after, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent, and began to break up in the air. The debris hit the ground near the town of Königs Wusterhausen, East Germany. There were no survivors.

Crash caused by a fire in the rear cargo bay

Investigation of the debris after the crash established the cause quickly. The pilot's reports during the flight pointed to the rear of the aircraft, and this was the case.

There was a leak in a hot-air tube in the rear of the aircraft. This escaping hot air caused a weakening of the insulation material of electricity wires. Electrical sparks (with temperatures up to 2000 degrees Celsius) led to a fire in the rear cargo bay of the aircraft. This weakened the airframe structure, soon leading to the failure of the elevators and the loss of the aircraft tail. The pilots were clearly not at fault.

Feel free to discuss more about this crash or the history and performance of the Ilyushin-62 in the comments.