According to the final investigation report of the German Federal Armed Forces, the serious aircraft accident of a government aircraft of the type "Global5000" in April 2019 was triggered by serious mistakes made by a subsidiary of Lufthansa. "Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Service" (LBAS) had extensively overhauled the jet with the tactical plate 14 + 01 before the accident flight. The company is a joint venture between Bombardier and Lufthansa.
The summary of the final report on the cause of the crash landing in Berlin-Schönefeld on 16 April reads clearly. Accordingly, "technical errors in installation and adjustment work" on the jet control "undoubtedly was the cause of the accident." The lines were written by Brig. Gen. Peter Klement, who, in his role as General Flugsicherheit der Bundeswehr, investigates all flight accidents in the troop.
According to the report, the mechanics misconstrued a central part of the controller. Put simply, the "Roll Control Input Module" translates the pilots' steering commands and controls the spoiler flaps on the wings. These are crucial for steering movements, they trigger the rolling motion of the jet. Both the incorrect installation and the lack of controls afterwards were a "direct factor" for the accident, the report said.
Due to the error, the spoiler reacted "reversed". The result: When the pilots wanted to make a left turn, the jet tilted to the right. This resulted in the pilots losing control of their jet for the first time after reaching altitude. Shortly thereafter, they tipped into a dive with a slope of 40 degrees, quickly lost 1100 meters altitude. Only about 600 meters above the ground they were able to catch the jet. Passengers were not on board.
The General Aviation Security has extensively investigated the incident. To do so, he evaluated the data stored on the accident, spoke with the pilots and the technicians of the Lufthansa subsidiary. Klement emphasizes that he was concerned with clarifying the cause of the accident and that the question of guilt must be assessed by others. His report will now interest the prosecutor Cottbus, there are investigations into the accident.
Checks before takeoff "not with the required care"
In addition to the maintenance company Klement sees the Bundeswehr pilots in the responsibility. So the checks were done before the start "not with the necessary care". Instead of looking at the spoiler from the outside, one would have relied on the displays, but reported no error. In addition, the pilots should have analyzed the malfunction in the air more accurate, so the dramatic crash landing might have been prevented.
The subsequent emergency landing of the "Global", which also Chancellor Angela Merkel has used regularly in recent years, at Berlin-Schönefeld Airport was a fire hazard. Although the pilots were able to stabilize the "Global" after the dive initially again and head for the airport. Shortly before touchdown, however, they lost control of the aircraft at just 100 meters due to the faulty control system.
The next few seconds could have ended in disaster. Shortly before touchdown, the jet fluctuated suddenly from left to right, suddenly pulled up slightly again. The targeted runway was missed, alternately touched both wings the ground. The plane finally landed beside the runway, rumbling over unpaved lawns. With the nose wheel, the pilots headed back to the runway.
Video: Planespotter photographs emergency landing (17.04.2019)
Marcel Russ
In the crash landing, the jet was so badly damaged that a repair is no longer economical. Klement describes in his report that when pulling up after the dive acceleration forces of up to 5.8G occurred. According to experienced pilots, the crew could have lost consciousness at this strain. Technicians later discovered that the strong G forces severely damaged the jet's cell structure.
The report should fuel the discussion about Lufthansa Technik as a service provider to the entire government fleet. Just recently, the Federal Government ordered six more aircraft from Lufthansa Technik due to the many government aircraft outages, three new "Global6000" for short and medium haul flights and three brand new A350 long-haul jets for travel to the US or Africa.
"Time pressure and high workload"
The report now contains harsh judgments about Lufthansa subsidiary LBAS. For example, the technical staff was partly deployed on several projects at the same time. This has led to a "diffusion of responsibility", necessary controls were missing. The maintenance of the government jet, according to the verdict, was "characterized by time pressure, work stoppages, insufficient supervision and high workload".
Lufthansa Technik did not want to comment on the report of the Bundeswehr, as it does not yet exist. A spokesman said on SPIEGEL-request, it has to do in the misfortune flight from Lufthansa view "not with a system error, but with individual work mistakes", which nevertheless are unacceptable. "As a shareholder of LBAS we regret this very much and are very glad that the incident did not turn out worse," he said.
Lufthansa Technik has already drawn consequences from the near-crash. Thus, "additional elements of the quality assurance system" were introduced at LBAS in Berlin-Schönefeld. Quality and safety are the most important product, the high standards would be "estimated worldwide," said the spokesman. One can also say it more succinctly: For Lufthansa, the accident flight of the "Global" is a painful loss of face.