Date: 10 July 2002
Airline: Swiss International Air Lines
Flight No.: LX850
Aircraft: Saab 2000
Location: Werneuchen, Germany
Fatalities: 0:20
Photographer: C. Kirschke
The aircraft [HB-IZY], on a flight from Basel to Hamburg, was scheduled to land at 7:30pm. The weather in northern Germany was particularly bad upon the aircraft's arrival, with severe thunderstorms containing heavy wind, rain, and hail. An instrument approach was attempted to Runway 05 at Hamburg, but was broken off when conditions proved to be too hazardous for a normal landing. The decision was made to divert from Hamburg, but the crew was informed that all of their selected alternate airports including, finally, Finow Air Force Base were closed due to the inclement weather. Running low on fuel, the flight crew made the decision to divert to the abandoned runway at the former Werneuchen Air Base, about 60 miles from Berlin-Tegel Airport. The crew made a visual approach to 7,874ft Runway 08, and the aircraft touched down at 8:35pm local time. Since the airport's closure, however, only the eastern portion of the runway (4,921ft) is available for use, and is separated from the remainder of the runway by a concrete retaining wall and ditch. As the aircraft slowed, it impacted the retaining wall and ditch, causing severe damage, before coming to rest.
