Incident
On 17 June 1989, Interflug Flight 102, an Ilyushin Il-62M, was preparing for departure from Berlin Schönefeld Airport, East Germany. At 6:20 am local time, the crew started the aircraft's four Soloviev D-30KU engines. According to the cockpit voice recorder, the unlocking of the flight controls was not performed. The crew did not check the warning panel indicating the elevator condition. During taxi, the captain checked for elevator movement but failed to notice that the elevators were locked and immovable.
The aircraft was cleared for takeoff on runway 25L. Due to the airplane's low departure weight of 113 tons, the engines were adjusted to a derated thrust level. At 6:28:05 local time, the aircraft reached rotation speed (VR). The crew pulled on the yoke to raise the nose, but the airplane did not respond. Four seconds later, the captain decided to abort the takeoff. At that moment, the speed was 293 km/h. The flight engineer shut down all four engines, preventing the use of reverse thrust. The aircraft continued at 303 km/h, 940 meters from the runway end.
The plane overran the runway at 262 km/h, veering left of the centerline. During emergency braking, five tires on the main landing gear were destroyed. The aircraft entered a 40 cm deep construction pit, causing the main landing gear to collapse. Active steering was not available on this aircraft model at the time. The aircraft then collided with a water tank, concrete portions of the airport fence, a road embankment, and six trees. The impact broke the plane into three pieces and ignited a fire. At 6:28:37 local time, the aircraft slid to a halt.
Rescue workers arrived at the wreckage at 6:38 and rescued 82 passengers within the first two minutes. The front fuselage, containing the cockpit, remained relatively intact, allowing some cockpit and cabin crew to escape through cockpit window openings. The airline crew assisted rescue workers in evacuating passengers. The fire was fully extinguished by 8:09. The accident resulted in 21 fatalities: 19 died at the scene and two later at the hospital. Contributing to the crash was the locking of some flight controls; whether this was due to a mechanical issue or the crew missing a step could not be proven.
Aftermath
All eleven of Interflug's Il-62s were temporarily grounded. Nine were cleared to return to service the day after the crash.