The interim report into a vintage warbird crash that killed two pilots in western Germany has settled one argument: the 1949-vintage North American T-28A Trojan did not simply dive into Limburgerhof. It came apart while still in the air.
The German federal accident investigator BFU, publishing preliminary findings, says the aircraft took off from Aachen-Merzbrück at 10:41 on 16 May, bound for Oberpfaffenhofen on a ferry flight and climbing toward ten thousand feet. Radar logged a right turn near 11:26 with altitude falling and speed building. In the same window, witnesses around Ludwigshafen and Limburgerhof heard a bang like an explosion and watched debris rain out of the sky. The two pilots, aged 66 and 60, died in the break-up, and wreckage scattered across a zone roughly 400 by 200 meters, damaging houses at the town’s edge. One person on the ground suffered minor injuries.
Early coverage had quoted German media claiming the aircraft “in der Luft explodiert”, exploded in the air, though officials never confirmed it, and the wreck argues otherwise: photographs show no fire damage anywhere, and the blades of the three-blade propeller are barely bent, suggesting the Wright R-1300 radial engine was producing little or no power at impact.
The report also flags a broken cockpit instrument. Private photographs taken in March showed the artificial horizon, the gauge that tells pilots their attitude relative to the horizon, was defective, and witnesses confirmed seeing it. Whether that contributed, the BFU leaves open.
Weather sat over the whole flight. The crew had studied the forecast closely and weighed postponing: thunderstorms, moderate to severe turbulence and icing were predicted along the route. Mid-flight, a controller asked whether they could hold their planned altitude in those conditions, and the crew said yes.
No final cause is on the table yet; the investigation continues. The type’s history frames the stakes: developed after the war to replace the AT-6 Texan, first flown in September 1949, with some nineteen hundred built between 1950 and 1957, the Trojan is a sought-after warbird with a reputation as demanding to fly despite its trainer origins.
Sources
- Zwei Tote bei Absturz von North American T-28 Trojan in Deutschland | Austrian Wings
- Unglück mit 2 Toten in Limburgerhof – Flugzeug zerbrach in der Luft
