Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 11 January 1959 |
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).[1] 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.[1] It was the first fatal accident involving the current Lufthansa since it was formed in 1955.[2]