The Rosinenbomber here in take-off at the ILA Berlin Air Show one week for his fatal crash.

One of the legendary Douglas DC-3’s “Rosinenbomber”  (Raisin bomber or Candy Bomber) of the Berlin Airlift with 28 people on board made an emergency landing immediately after take-off near the airport Berlin-Schönefeld. Seven people were injured. The Douglas DC-3 D-CXXX is written-off.

The airplane, operated by Air Service Berlin had just departed on a 35-minute sightseeing flight over Berlin when the left hand engine lost power.  The “Candy Bomber” landed in a field after its take-off, the machine was turned over directly in Schönefeld Airport. It crashed at the site of the new major airport Brandenburg. One wing was broken off.

The airport Berlin-Schönefeld GmbH, said on its website, on board the DC-3 were 25 passengers and three crew members. They would leave the aircraft independently, seven of them were slightly injured in the accident. All were able to leave the aircraft unassisted.  Four people were taken to hospital. After the incident, the airport had been closed for 15 minutes, the report said. The Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation (BFU) began an investigation on the accident.

The DC-3 is named Rosinenbomber after US Air Force pilot Gail Halvorsen, who pioneered the idea of dropping candy bars and bubble gum with handmade miniature parachutes, which later became known as “Operation Little Vittles”.

Photo: Rob Vogelaar, ZAPP Group