Incident Overview

Description
The Baade 152 was an East-German designed passenger plane. The prototype, registered DM-ZYA, was prepared for a second test flight on March 4, 1959. During this flight the landing gear was to be raised for the first time. The flight departed at 12:55 from Dresden-Klotzsche Airport (DRS) and climbed to an altitude of 6000 m were flight tests were carried out. When descending back towards Dresden the flight crew were supposed to add power at 3000 m in order to arrest the descent and to test the airplane’s response to power settings. However, the descent was continued without adding power. Instead, the crew requested permission for an unplanned low pass with gear and flaps up. During the descent the airspeed dropped to a value close to stall speed. At an altitude of about 600 m the crew selected the undercarriage down and added power. The engine spool up time, 8-10 seconds, was insufficient. The airplane stalled and struck the terrain at an angle of 70 degrees. Although the crash was officialy attributed to “pilot error”, it is thought that the fuel flow to the engines stopped while descending towards Klotzsche. This was a recurring problem that was detected on later test flights.
Primary Cause
Insufficient engine spool-up time during descent.Insufficient engine spool-up time during descent.Share on: