Lufthansa Flight 502 - Misplaced Pages

Aviation accident in 1959

Lufthansa Flight 502
Accident
A Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation, similar to the accident aircraft
Date	11 January 1959 (1959-01-11)
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport, Brazil
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation
Operator	Lufthansa
Registration	D-ALAK
Flight origin	Dakar Airport, Senegal
Destination	Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport, Brazil
Occupants	39
Passengers	29
Crew	10
Fatalities	36
Injuries	3
Survivors	3

Lufthansa Flight 502 was a scheduled flight from Hamburg, Germany to Buenos Aires, Argentina on 11 January 1959. The flight was being operated by a Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation (registration D-ALAK). On the leg between Senegal and Brazil the Super Constellation was on approach to Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport when it crashed near Flecheiras Beach just short of the runway. All 29 passengers and seven of the ten crew were killed. It was the first fatal accident involving the current Lufthansa since it was formed in 1955.

Accident

The aircraft was cleared by air traffic control to descend to 900 metres (3,000 ft) over Guanabara Bay as part of the approach sequence to Runway 14 at Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport. During the descent the weather was rainy. Descending too low on approach, the Constellation struck the water with the aircraft's nosewheel; the crew attempted to continue the approach, but were unable to maintain control, and the aircraft crashed near Flecheiras Beach. All of the aircraft's passengers (including both the literary impressaria Susana Soca and the Archduchess Maria Ileana of Austria-Tuscany, granddaughter of King Ferdinand of Romania, along with her husband) as well as seven crewmembers died; the co-pilot, a steward and a stewardess survived the impact.

Aircraft

The aircraft, a Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation airliner powered by four Wright R-3350 radial piston engines, had been built in 1955, and was delivered to Lufthansa on 17 May 1955. The aircraft was sold to Seaboard World Airlines in May 1958, but had been returned to Lufthansa in November of that year.

Probable cause

An accident investigation was unable to determine the cause of the crash, but considered that the most likely cause of the accident was pilot error, resulting in Flight 502 descending below the minimum altitude required for the approach. The crew had exceeded the flight time limits set by Brazilian aeronautical regulations, but not under German rules; aircrew fatigue was determined to be a contributing factor.

References

Citations

^ Civil Aviation Authority 1974, p. 1/59
^ "36 Killed in Rio Crash – German Airliner Wrecked". News. The Times. No. 54356. London. 12 January 1959. col D, p. 8.
^ Eastwood 1991, p. 252

Bibliography

World Accident Summary. Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom). 1974. ISBN 0-903083-44-2.
Eastwood, Tony; John Roach (1991). Piston Engine Airliner Production List. The Aviation Hobby Shop. ISBN 0-907178-37-5.

External links

Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1959 (1959)
Jan 8 Southeast Airlines Flight 308Jan 11 Lufthansa Flight 502Jan 16 Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 205Jan 18 Aeroflot Flight 205Feb 3 American Airlines Flight 320Feb 3 Clear Lake crash ("The Day the Music Died")Feb 3 Pan Am Flight 115Feb 17 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crashApr 23 Air Charter Turkey crashMay 12 Capital Airlines Flight 75Jun 22 Pan Am Clipper PanamaJun 26 TWA Flight 891Jun 30 Okinawa F-100 crashAug 15 American Airlines Flight 514Aug 19 Transair Douglas Dakota accidentSep 24 TAI Flight 307Sep 29 Braniff Flight 542Oct 19 1959 Arlington Boeing 707 crashOct 23 Aeroflot Flight 200Oct 30 Piedmont Airlines Flight 349Nov 16 National Airlines Flight 967Nov 16 Aeroflot Flight 315Nov 21 Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 202Dec 1 Allegheny Airlines Flight 371Dec 4 San Diego F3H crash
1958 ◄ ► 1960

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1959 (1959)

Jan 8 Southeast Airlines Flight 308Jan 11 Lufthansa Flight 502Jan 16 Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 205Jan 18 Aeroflot Flight 205Feb 3 American Airlines Flight 320Feb 3 Clear Lake crash ("The Day the Music Died")Feb 3 Pan Am Flight 115Feb 17 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crashApr 23 Air Charter Turkey crashMay 12 Capital Airlines Flight 75Jun 22 Pan Am Clipper PanamaJun 26 TWA Flight 891Jun 30 Okinawa F-100 crashAug 15 American Airlines Flight 514Aug 19 Transair Douglas Dakota accidentSep 24 TAI Flight 307Sep 29 Braniff Flight 542Oct 19 1959 Arlington Boeing 707 crashOct 23 Aeroflot Flight 200Oct 30 Piedmont Airlines Flight 349Nov 16 National Airlines Flight 967Nov 16 Aeroflot Flight 315Nov 21 Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 202Dec 1 Allegheny Airlines Flight 371Dec 4 San Diego F3H crash

1958 ◄ ► 1960

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Brazil
1920s–1940s	Dornier J Santos Dumont crash (December 1928) Pan Am Sikorsky S-43 crash (August 1939)
1950s	Panair do Brasil Flight 099 (July 1950) Rio do Sal Linhas Aéreas Paulistas C-47 crash (July 1951) Pan Am Flight 202 (April 1952) Transportes Aéreos Nacional Douglas C-47 mid-air fire (August 1952) Begé VARIG Commando crash (April 1957) Lufthansa Flight 502 (January 1959)
1960s	Rio de Janeiro mid-air collision (February 1960) Real Transportes Aéreos Flight 435 (June 1960) Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 322 (November 1961) Paraná da Eva Panair do Brasil Lockheed Constellation crash (December 1962) Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul Flight 144 (May 1963)
1970s	Paraense Transportes Aéreos Flight 903 (March 1970) Lufthansa Cargo Flight 527 (July 1979)
1980s	Transbrasil Flight 303 (April 1980) Barra do Garças air disaster (June 1980) VASP Flight 234 (May 1982) VASP Flight 168 (June 1982) TABA Fairchild FH-227 accident (June 1982) TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Bandeirante crash (June 1984) VASP Flight 210 (January 1986) Brazilian UFO incident (May 1986) VASP Flight 375 (September 1988) Transbrasil Flight 801 (March 1989) Varig Flight 254 (September 1989)
1990s	TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402 (October 1996)
2000s	TAM Airlines Flight 9755 (September 2001) Rico Linhas Aéreas Flight 4823 (August 2002) Total Linhas Aéreas Flight 5561 (September 2002) Rico Linhas Aéreas Flight 4815 (May 2004) TEAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 6865 (March 2006) Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 (September 2006) TAM Airlines Flight 3054 (July 2007) Manaus Aerotáxi Embraer Bandeirante crash (February 2009) Air France Flight 447 (June 2009)*
2010s	Noar Linhas Aéreas Flight 4896 (July 2011) Santos Cessna Citation crash (August 2014) São Paulo helicopter crash (February 2019)
2020s	Palmas FR plane crash (January 2021) Piedade de Caratinga Beechcraft King Air crash (November 2021) Manaus Aerotáxi Embraer Bandeirante crash (September 2023) Rio Branco Cessna Grand Caravan crash (October 2023) Voepass Flight 2283 (August 2024) Total Linhas Aéreas Flight 5682 (November 2024) 2024 Gramado Piper PA-42 crash (December 2024)
Occurred in international waters

v t e Lockheed Constellation family
Model numbers	L-049 L-051 L-084 L-104 L-139 L-149 L-249 L-349 L-449 L-549 L-649 L-749 L-849 L-949 L-1049 A B/F L-1149 L-1249 L-1449 L-1549 L-1649
Names	Constellation (I) Constellation (II) Constellation (III) Speedfreighter Starliner Super Constellation (I) Super Constellation (II)
Military designations	B-30 C-69 C-121 F EC-121 PO R7O/R7V -2 WV W2V
Accidents and incidents	TWA Flight 513 (1946) TWA Flight 6963 (1946) Pan Am Flight 121 (1947) Pan Am Flight 1-10 (1948) Air France Flight 009 (1949) TWA Flight 903 (1950) Air India Flight 245 (1950) Pan Am Flight 151 (1951) Air France Flight 152 (1953) Air France Flight 178 (1953) KLM Flight 633 (1954) Air India Flight 300 (1955) El Al Flight 402 (1955) LAV Flight 253 (June 1956) TWA Flight 2 (1956) LAV Flight 253 (November 1956) KLM Flight 844 (1957) KLM Flight 607-E (1958) Lufthansa Flight 502 (1959) TWA Flight 891 (1959) Avianca Flight 671 (1960) Air France Flight 343 (1960) TWA Flight 266 (1960) Air France Flight 406 (1961) TWA Flight 529 (1961) IA Flight 201/8 (1961) FTL Flight 739 (1962) Paradise Airlines Flight 901A (1964) EAL Flight 853 (1965) LANSA Flight 501 (1966)
Notable aircraft	Avion Pirata Columbine II Kashmir Princess
Topics	Operators Variants

Lufthansa Group

Subsidiaries

Passenger airlines	Lufthansa Lufthansa City Airlines Lufthansa Regional Air Dolomiti Lufthansa CityLine Austrian Airlines Brussels Airlines Discover Airlines Eurowings Eurowings Europe Smartwings Swiss International Air Lines Edelweiss Air
Cargo airlines	Lufthansa Cargo
50% joint venture airlines	AeroLogic (with DHL) SunExpress (with Turkish Airlines)
Non-airline subsidiaries	AirPlus Global Load Control LSG Group Lufthansa Consulting Lufthansa Aviation Training Lufthansa Systems Lufthansa Technik
Former	British Midland International Condor German Cargo Germanwings Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter Lufthansa Italia SunExpress Deutschland Swiss Global Air Lines Team Lufthansa

Incidents and accidents
(all subsidiaries, while owned)

DLH502 (1959)
DLH005 (1966)
DLH649 (1972)
DLH615 (1972)
1973 Rome airport attacks and hijacking
DLH540 (1974)
DLH181 (1977)
GEC527 (1979)
CFG3782 (1988)
DLH592 (1993)
DLH2904 (1993)
GEC8460 (2010)
GWI9525 (2015)

Destinations

Key personnel

Carsten Spohr (Chairman and CEO)

Miles & More (frequent flyer program)
Star Alliance (founding member)

Category
[REDACTED] Commons

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Accident

Aircraft

Probable cause

See also

References

External links