Gear-up landing Incident Heinkel He 111 H-5 3976,
ASN logo
ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 227180
 
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information. If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.

Date:Sunday 11 May 1941
Time:00:45 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic H111 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Heinkel He 111 H-5
Owner/operator:5./KG 53 Luftwaffe
Registration: 3976
MSN: A1+JN
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:Kennington, 1 mile north of Ashford, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase: Combat
Nature:Military
Departure airport:Lille-Vendeville airfield (F)
Destination airport:
Narrative:
Mission: Attack on London Docks, England.

Pilot: Feldwebel. Richard Fürthmann – Captured wounded.

Observer: Hauptmann. Albert Hufenreuter – Captured with broken leg.

Radio/Op: Unteroffizier. Karol Gerhardt – Captured wounded.

Flt/Eng: Gefreiter. Josef Berzbach – Captured wounded.

Gunner: Gefreiter. Edgar Weber – Captured wounded.

REASON FOR LOSS:

Started from Lille-Vendeville at 22.30 hrs. along with all available aircraft from II/KG 53 to attack the London Docks. Making landfall at Dover at 14,000 ft. they followed the course of the Thames to their objective which they bombed. On the return journey they were attacked from behind by a single engined night fighter which made six attacks in all. The port engine was disabled and the starboard damaged, so the pilot dived down to 150 ft. to try and escape but finally made a belly landing.

Markings: IN in black with white edges. Aircraft marked no.3976, made by Ernst Heinkel, Rostock, dated 27/2/41. Engines: Jumo 211 H-1, starboard no.MZK 211/H1-238, made by Motorenbau Zeigwerke Kochen/Anhalt, port motor no. MZK.211H-1/667 made by Motorenbau Zeigwerk, Magdeburg.

Armament: one MG 17 in the tail, five MG 15; one dorsal, one front, two lateral, one lower rear gunner. Position prepared for the fitting of a 20 mm cannon but none fitted. Sixty MG 15 ammunition drums found. Part of a PVC 1006 bomb rack found; the 250 kg starboard internal racks fitted with incendiary bombs. Fuel tank fitted on starboard side of internal bomb bay.

One 1,000 kg bomb and four containers of incendiary bombs carried. Equipment: Lotfe 7c bombsight and FuG.10 wireless.

The observer had been shot down over Holland on 10th May 1940 but had been repatriated in the July.

Suffering some damage, the wreck of Richard Furthmann’s Heinkel (IWM).

Researched and compiled by Melvin Brownless with thanks to Nigel Parker and the IWM. August 2018.

Sources:

Luftwaffe losses aircrewremembrancesociety3.com

Media:

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
15-Jul-2019 15:15 TigerTimon Added
26-Feb-2020 09:17 Iwosh Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Operator]
19-Mar-2021 17:49 Dartman Updated [Location]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org