What happened
While operating at 21,000 feet south of Ingolstadt, the pilot reported an onboard fire to air traffic control and requested an emergency diversion to Munich Airport. During the subsequent emergency descent, the aircraft lost controllability and entered a steep dive. The structural integrity of the plane failed mid-air, leading to partial disintegration. The main wreckage impacted the Munich - Nuremberg highway amidst flames, while debris and the tail section were recovered in separate locations, including an area approximately three kilometers from the primary impact site.
Emergency responders faced significant challenges reaching the scene due to heavy traffic congestion on the highway caused by holiday travelers. There were 48 fatalities among the occupants of the aircraft. At the time of the incident, weather conditions featured broken cloud layers between 800 and 15,000 feet.
Findings
Investigations concluded that a failure of the main generator during flight triggered a significant loss of electrical power and likely caused an electrical short-circuit. This malfunction resulted in the failure of critical onboard instruments, including the gyrocompass. Because the crew was flying through clouds with limited visibility, the loss of these instruments prevented them from maintaining the correct aircraft attitude, leading to the loss of control.
As the aircraft descended, the aerodynamic loads surpassed the structural limits of the airframe, causing the wings and tail to detach. The aircraft struck the ground at a speed of 310 knots. While the specific origin of the generator failure remains unconfirmed, the generator failure was the primary driver of the subsequent system failures.