Me 109 accident

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Restored Messerschmidt crash-lands at Berlin Air Show

Berlin - A restored Messerschmidt 109 fighter plane dating from the Second World War crash-landed Tuesday at the Berlin Air Show, holding up regular air traffic at the busy airport, live television pictures showed.

No one appeared to be hurt, and the plane did not seem to be seriously damaged. Images showed the plane with its right wingtip resting on the ground, apparently after its right-side undercarriage had failed and it had skidded onto grass next to the runway.

The pilot, identified by N24 television as Walter Eichhorn, jumped clear and waited alongside the immobilized propeller plane as airport fire crews raced to the spot to check that nothing was burning.

The German Me 109, one of 33,000 made, had just completed a flying display for the crowds with a replica of Nazi Germany's Me 262 turbo- jet fighter. The air show began Tuesday at Schoenefeld Airport in Berlin's south-east.

Regular airline take-offs and landings halted during the emergency, N24 said.

Restored Messerschmidt crash-lands at Berlin Air Show - Business

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It looks to me from the video that the pilot did his best to come in on a long, slow approach, and set it down as gently as he could. After that, the starboard gear did a slow collapse. It wasn't sudden or anything. Makes me wonder if he knew beforehand the gear wasn't locked in the down position.
 
That's how he always land that bird. I'd suspect there were fatigue/stress fractures of the strut mount just waiting for the right moment.
 

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