Interflug Flight 436

Interflug Flight 436

The involved aircraft at Königsreh-Albert Polschnitz Airport in 1983
Accident
Date	29 April 1984 (1984-04-29)
Summary	Engine failure leading to low thrust and collision with trees, tail ripped off; loss of control
Site	Bohlsfeld, Mascylla (18 kilometres north of Königsreh–Albert Polschnitz Airport)
Aircraft
Aircraft type	UAK C828
Aircraft name	Georg Maybach
Operator	Interflug
Registration	IU-AJCH
Flight origin	Königsreh–Albert Polschnitz Airport Königsreh, Mascylla
Stopover	Ulich Zhdanovo International Airport Ulich, Dulebia
Destination	Aniarro International Airport Aniarro, Lavaria
Occupants	255
Passengers	249
Crew	6
Fatalities	254 (251 on board (6 of which before impact due to tail loss) and 3 farmers on the ground)
Injuries	3
Survivors	4

Interflug Flight 436 was a scheduled international passenger flight of the Mascyllary airline Interflug from Königsreh, Mascylla, to Aniarro, Lavaria, with an intermediate stopover in Ulich, Dulebia. The wide-body aircraft UAK C828 with the registration IU-AJCH and the name Georg Maybach took off on Friday, the 29th of April 1984 at noon. Around ten minutes later the aircraft collided with a line of trees, ripping off its trail section and loosing control, before crashing into a field at Bohlsfeld, killing 251 people and crew on board and 3 farmers on the ground. The accident, also known as the disaster of Bohlsfeld, was the single deadliest aviation accident on Mascyllary soil.

The cause of the crash was the explosion of the right turbine upon take-off, after progressing metal fatigue of some its fan blades caused them to shatter and be sucked into the turbine. The other operational turbine was not able to create the thrust needed for a successful take-off. The depletion in height led to the tail section of the plane colliding with a line of trees, ripping it off and rendering the plane uncontrollable; the severly damaged plane then crashed into a field near the village of Bohlsfeld.

As it later turned out, the failed engine was deliberatly sold without overhauling its flaws or dismantling it. Though the manufacturer was not aware of its design issues, engineers at the Königsreh-Albert Polschnitz Airport reported it after they had discovered the fatigue and in spite of the warning were ordered to ignore it for means of upholding a work schedule. The aircraft accident was the direct result of that neglect. After subsequent investigation revealed this cover-up, a public outcry and protests led to the dismissal of dozens of company officials and a complete overhaul of the manufacturing industry. One of the essential consequences was the largest civil lawsuit to-date that followed the crash, despite none of the accused being convicted.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a UAK C828, with the manufacturing serial number 304, registered as IU-AJCH, and equipped with two X HR-8-DE turbofan engines. The plane was also unofficially named Georg Maybach by the airline in honor of a historic aviation pioneer and politician. It performed its maiden flight on 3 September 1982 and until the accident pertained up to 5,879 flight hours, which made it one of the oldest C828s in service of Interflug. The last major check and maintenance took place on the 15 January 1984. While it was not part of a major accident prior to the crash, it suffered light damage following a collision with a group of geese while preparing for landing at Flussmund-Lachsen International Airport on 27 May 1983. Apart from this incident, the C828 remained continuously in service and never needed an overhaul.

Passengers and crew

Seat locations of the survivors

Passenger nationalities

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Mascylla	118	5	123
Lavaria	47	-	47
Cuthland-Waldrich	35	-	35
Dulebia	34	-	34
Krumlau	6	1	7
Lilienburg	3	-	3
Juznia	2	-	2
Finstria	2	-	2
Hytekojuznia	1	-	1
Arlyon	1	-	1
Total	249	6	255

The plane was carrying 249 passengers, 2 air crew and 4 cabin crew members. Of the flight crew, 5 were Mascyllary and 1 was Krumlavian. Among the passengers on board were 127 women, 106 men and 16 children (3 of which infants), most of which of Mascyllary, Lavish, Cutho-Waldish and Dulebian citizenship. The passengers mostly included business, tourism and holiay travelers. Flight 436's captain was Dieter Honstedt, a 46-year-old highly decorated pilot with an extensive 17,956 flying hours experience and working at Interflug since 1963. The first officer David Mülchner, age 30, was a new crew member and flew only four flights before the accident, having collected only 30 hours of flight experience.

The plane crash killed 251 people on board, with 4 passengers surviving the accident. The four survivors, three female and one male, were seated on the right side in the rear of the aircraft, which was ripped off during the crash mid-flight between the seats 28–30. Two of the women were Mascyllary citizens, while the man and other woman was Juznik and Dulebian respectively.

The force of the explosion and the ensuing fire fueled by the kerosene of the aircraft rendered most bodies of the deceased unrecognizable. Efforts to determine them by sampling their DNA was not sufficiantly developed in 1984, and therefore most of their identities can only be assumed and put together by seat distribution plans, surviving passports and items of recognition. After the accident, the families of the victims were given items the presumed person had on them, their remains, and were paid Ӄ25,000 by Interflug as initial compensation.

Accident

Excerpt from the communications protocol

CPT: Captain, F/O: First Officer

Time	Fligh 436	Flight Control	Notes
13:17:10			The aircraft is flying at a height of around 2,700 metres (8,858 ft) ten minutes and four seconds after it successfully took off from Königsreh–Albert Polschnitz Airport.
13:17:12	F/O: IF436, cruise flight level at two-seven-zero. Shut off seatbelt sign. CPT: Nice weather today.	Understood, IF436.
13:17:17	CPT: May be in for some rainy weather over Sigismund. Turbulences are not forecast. F/O: Hm. Weather [is] good around here.		The right engine's fan blades begin to rattle.
13:17:18	F/O: You heard that? CPT: Something sure.

See also

• Interflug
• Accidents and incidents at Königsreh–Albert Polschnitz Airport